Australian P.M. Refutes Annan Claims Iraq War 'illegal'

SYDNEY, Sept 16 (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Thursday refuted claims by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that the Iraq war was "illegal", saying it had been justified by UN Security Council resolutions.
Howard, one of US President George W. Bush`s strongest supporters over the invasion, said the action was "entirely valid" legally.
"The legal advice we had -- and I tabled it at the time -- was that the action was entirely valid in international law terms," Howard said.
"That was a legal opinion we obtained from the relevant people in Australia. There had been a series of security council resolutions."
He was responding to Annan`s comments in a BBC radio interview that the invasion did not conform with the United Nations charter "and from the charter point of view it was illegal".
Australia still has several hundred military personnel in Iraq, a key issue in campaigning for the October 9 election. Opposition leader Mark Latham has pledged to take Australian troops out of Iraq if he is elected.