Saturday, March 15, 2003

The Guardian - Doubts grow over legality of war

It emerged too that the British government's legal position may not be watertight. Ministers say that if a second resolution is tabled and lost, the legal position is that they can go to war under the earlier UN resolution 1441, which demanded that Saddam Hussein give up his weapons or face serious consequences.

But there was a suggestion last night that the government has been told it is not as simple as that. Any second resolution that fell would mean that Britain would have to go to war in breach of international law. This could have serious consequences for the government and the armed forces.

Earlier doubts about needing an explicit resolution are being whitewashed by ambiguous language in resolution 1441. I think this is a misinterpretation.

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