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Former UK Foreign Secretary Straw expresses regret over Iraq war

21 January 2010 23:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ziya Agazade â€“ APA. Cabinet tensions in the run-up to the Iraq war were laid bare as Jack Straw became the first senior minister to express â€œdeep regretâ€ over the â€œgrave loss of lifeâ€ in a conflict he admitted he could have stopped, APA reported quoting â€œFinancial Timesâ€.

Mr Straw, the foreign secretary at the outbreak of war, said on Thursday he had been â€œhauntedâ€ by mistakes over the presentation of intelligence and strongly hinted at disagreements with Tony Blair over a â€œregime changeâ€ strategy.

In testimony before the Iraq inquiry, the current justice secretary distanced himself from parts of a letter that Mr Blair sent to the US president making clear Britainâ€™s willingness to use military force to disarm Saddam Hussein.

Mr Straw expressed â€œregretâ€ over some of the consequences of the war, including the loss of life, the divisions in the country and the damage to trust caused by the inaccurate claims over weapons of mass destruction. Earlier this week Gordon Brown refused to express any regrets over the conflict, saying only that â€œmistakes had been madeâ€.