Witness contradicts Straw's Iraq testimony

LONDON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A former lawyer for the British Foreign Office gave testimony Tuesday contradicting Jack Straw's claim he was a reluctant backer of the Iraq invasion.

Sir Michael Wood, who was the head lawyer for the Foreign Office before the invasion, and his former deputy, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, testified before the Chilcot Inquiry, The Times of London reported. The panel also examined evidence, including a memo from Wood that said Straw, then foreign secretary, told then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2002, a year before the invasion, that he was "entirely comfortable with making a case" for an invasion of Iraq.

Straw, now justice minister, told the commission headed by Sir John Chilcot he did not back the invasion until March 2003, shortly before British and U.S. troops crossed the border into Iraq.

The panel is examining the legality of the invasion. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to be a witness Friday.

Both Wood and Wilmshurst wrote memos questioning the legality of the invasion. Wilmshurst resigned just before the invasion, describing it as a "crime of aggression" to attack Iraq without authorization from the United Nations.