LONDON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Britain's attorney general relied on the personal judgment of the prime minister in giving legal backing to the Iraq war, the Independent reports.
Letters obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show three days before giving his backing to the invasion, Lord Peter Goldsmith wrote to Downing Street, saying the legal case for war rested on Blair's judgment on whether Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction.
"The attorney general understands that it is unequivocally the prime minister's view that Iraq has committed further material breaches as specified in paragraph 4 of resolution 1441, but as this is a judgment for the prime minister, the attorney general would be grateful for confirmation that this is the case," he wrote in a letter dated March 14, 2003.
After receiving assurance from No. 10 that it is "indeed the prime minister's unequivocal view Iraq is in further material breach of its obligations," the attorney general delivered his legal backing for the war to Parliament on March 17, 2003.
The government has refused to disclose in full the attorney general's advice over the invasion, which U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has since said was illegal.
