British Attorney General backs legality of Iraq war

A war on Iraq without a second resolution would be legal, Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar said today.

Mr Aznar, who will fly out to the Azores for an emergency summit this afternoon with Tony Blair and George Bush, echoed the British Government’s insistence that there is already legal authority under existing United Nations resolutions 678, 687 and 1441.

Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has advised Mr Blair that a war without a second resolution would be legal, according to reports.

Mr Aznar told BBC1’s Breakfast With Frost: “A further resolution would be politically desirable ... but from a legal point of view it is not indispensable.”

Chancellor Gordon Brown told the programme: “The Government is satisfied that it is legal.”