The British government received unequivocal advice from its chief legal officer in 2002 that there were "considerable difficulties" in justifying the military action against Iraq taken a year later, an inquiry into the conflict heard Tuesday.The revelation came during testimony given to the inquiry by Geoff Hoon, defence secretary in the cabinet of former prime minister Tony Blair at the time of the invasion.

The inquiry Tuesday published declassified letters exchanged between Hoon and Peter Goldmith, the former attorney general in the Blair government. Nearly a full year before the invasion, Goldsmith wrote that he was "not aware of the existence of material indicating the existence of an imminent threat from Iraq which would justify military action without the support of a UN Security Council authorisation."

Copyright Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 2010