Iraq war illegal, says Annan

He said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally.

And he feared elections planned for January would not go ahead in Iraq unless security considerably improved.

The UK government responded by saying the attorney-general made the "legal basis... clear at the time".

Mr Annan said that "painful lessons" had been learnt since the war in Iraq.

"Lessons for the US, the UN and other member states. I think in the end everybody's concluded it's best to work together with our allies and through the UN," he said in an interview with the BBC World Service.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661134.stm

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has described the US-led invasion of Iraq as "illegal" and a violation of the UN charter.

In an interview with BBC on Wednesday, Annan also expressed fears that holding credible elections in Iraq may not be possible as planned in January 2005 in view of the escalating violence.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2AA1310F-798C-4666-AE76-DCB6370C75CC.htm

Iraq war was illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan

Ewen MacAskill and Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday September 16, 2004
The Guardian

The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, declared explicitly for the first time last night that the US-led war on Iraq was illegal.

Mr Annan said that the invasion was not sanctioned by the UN security council or in accordance with the UN's founding charter. In an interview with the BBC World Service broadcast last night, he was asked outright if the war was illegal. He replied: "Yes, if you wish."

He then added unequivocally: "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view and from the charter point of view it was illegal."

Mr Annan has until now kept a tactful silence and his intervention at this point undermines the argument pushed by Tony Blair that the war was legitimised by security council resolutions.

Mr Annan also questioned whether it will be feasible on security grounds to go ahead with the first planned election in Iraq scheduled for January. "You cannot have credible elections if the security conditions continue as they are now," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1305709,00.html

Annan says U.S.-led Iraq war, with no Security Council approval, was illegal
Updated at 22:17 on September 15, 2004, EST.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.S. decision to go to war in Iraq without the approval of the UN Security Council was "illegal," Secretary General Kofi Annan told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Wednesday.

"I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time - without UN approval and much broader support from the international community," he said in an interview with the BBC World Service.

http://www3.cjad.com/content/cp_article.asp?id=/global_feeds/canadianpress/worldnews/w0915115A.htm