The British government today played down claims the attorney-general changed his advice on the legality of war in Iraq in the run-up to the conflict.
The Ministry of Defence denied reports that army chiefs initially refused to go to war until they had government guarantees it was legal.
And ministers condemned the claims as a "fog of fabrication" with no evidence to suggest the government did anything wrong.
Attorney-general Lord Goldsmith reportedly redrafted his pivotal advice to ministers to give an "unequivocal" assurance the conflict would not be illegal.
When the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1441 threatening "serious consequences" if Iraq did not comply with its disarmament obligations, Lord Goldsmith reportedly agreed with the Foreign Office that a further resolution was needed to make war legal.
According to the Independent on Sunday, British military chiefs also said they needed a clearer legal basis on which to go to war, as a second UN resolution looked increasingly unlikely.
But the MoD said it would have been routine for the then Chief of Defence Staff Sir Michael (now Lord) Boyce to ensure that any military operation was legal.
A spokeswoman said: "Lord Boyce, as the representative of the Chiefs of Staff, was entirely satisfied with the legality and military planning was not held up in any way awaiting legal advice."
PA