Kofi Annan: Iraq war 'illegal'
2004-09-16 07:15
London - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, in an interview on Wednesday with BBC World Service radio, said the United States decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was "illegal".
"I'm one of those who believe that there should have been a second resolution" from the UN Security Council to green-light the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime, Annan said.
He added: "I've indicated that it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, and from the charter point of view it was illegal."
Annan also said it was unlikely that Iraq would be able to hold "credible elections" as planned in January 2005 "if the security conditions continue as they are now".
Lessons learnt
"I think there have been lessons for the US and lessons for the UN and other member states," the secretary general said.
"I think that, in the end, everybody's concluded that it is best to work together with our allies and through the UN to deal with some of these issues," he said.
"I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time."
The interview was likely to reignite debate over whether US President George W Bush acted within the bounds of international law by failing to get one last UN Security Council resolution on Iraq.
It had adopted a number of resolutions over the years to compel Saddam to abandon the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
The last one was adopted in November 2002, when UN inspectors re-entered Iraq, warning Saddam's regime of "serious consequences" if it was found to be in material breach of the earlier resolutions.
Annan spoke to the BBC a day after 47 people died in a powerful car bomb attack Tuesday outside a Baghdad police station - the bloodiest incident since a similar bombing in Baquba on July 28 which took 70 lives.
Referring to the tense diplomatic run-up to the Iraq invasion, Annan said: "It was up to the Security Council to approve or determine what those consequences should be."
Did not conform to UN
He added that the US decision to go ahead and invade Iraq, with British forces at its side, "was not in conformity with the Security Council, with the UN charter," one of the cornerstones of international law.
Asked if he meant that the decision to invade was illegal, the secretary general replied: "Yes, if you wish."
The Foreign Office, Britain's foreign ministry, disagreed, recalling that Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith had set out the legal basis for war on Iraq shortly before the invasion was launched.
Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawar said "terrorists" had stepped up their activities in his war-torn country, but he vowed that elections would be held there as planned in January.