Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was warned by his chief legal adviser two months before the invasion of Iraq that such a move would be unlawful, an inquiry has heard.
Sir Michael Wood told the Iraq inquiry he had told Mr Straw explicit UN authorisation was needed.
He said comments made by Mr Straw to US Vice-President Dick Cheney regarding a second UN resolution were "completely wrong from a legal point of view".
He said it was the "first and only occasion" a minister had not accepted his advice.
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