Prime minister Gordon Brown said the UK was right to invade Iraq in 2003, as underwent four hours of questioning on the conduct of the Iraq war and Britain's part in the conflict.
"It was the right decision and it was for the right reasons," Mr Brown, who was chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, told a panel inquiring into the war in London today.
"It was impossible to persuade" Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein "he should abide by international law."
The inquiry into the UK's role in the US-led invasion has already heard evidence from former prime minister Tony Blair, as well as other ministers and diplomats involved in the government's decision to go to war. No report will be published until after the UK general election that must be held by June.
The inqwuir, which opened on November 24th and is chaired by a retired civil servant, John Chilcot, is the fifth into the war. Mr Brown is also being questioned about funding for equipment used by the 40,000 troops sent to Iraq.
"There was no financial restraint on us doing the best for the military," Mr Brown told the panel.
When Mr Blair gave evidence January 29th, he said he had no regrets about removing Hussein.
Mr Blair's former communications chief, Alistair Campbell, told the inquiry on January 12th that Mr Brown was a member of the inner circle that made the key decisions in the period leading up to the invasion.
Mr Brown also insisted he never limited resources for British forces in the US-led invasion, rejecting accusations that inadequate funding and equipment led to deaths.
"I made it absolutely clear that every single request that was made for equipment had to be met by the Treasury and every request was met," Mr Brown, who was finance minister at the time, told the panel. "I know of no occasion when they were turned down."
Opposition politicians and military figures had called for the inquiry to examine Mr Brown's spending on the armed forces.
Mr Brown denied he ever sought to influence military decisions on cost grounds. He said he told his officials that all urgent operational requirements should be met and he set up a special mechanism in the Treasury to speed up the transfer of money to the Ministry of Defence.
Mr Brown will meet privately today with families of some of the 179 British service personnel who died in the conflict, his spokesman told reporters yesterday.
"There was a request from the families, as they requested to meet Mr Blair and others, and the prime minister clearly thinks it's the right thing to do," he said.
UK combat troops carried out their last patrol in Iraq on April 30th last year.