British Prime Minister Tony Blair had decided to send troops to Iraq eight months before the war began despite of the Foreign Office's advice about its illegality, a newly-leaked document said Sunday.

The Sunday Independent newspaper quoted a minute of secret legal advice from the Foreign Office as saying that the prime minister had received a warning that the case against Iraq was "thin" before he met with US President George W. Bush in Texas in 2002.

The Office suggested Saddam Hussein should be forced into a corner by being demanded the return of UN weapons inspectors; if he refused or if the inspectors found weapons of mass destruction, there would be a good cause for war.

The document also revealed that the head of British intelligence had reported that President Bush had firmly made up his mind to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam before his meeting with Blair.

The document adds yet more fuel to the embattled Labor leader currently seeking a third-term in the national elections slated on May 5, following last week's leak of secret legal advice from the attorney general to Blair that the war on Iraq is illegal without serious evidence or UN resolution as backup.

Blair claimed that the opposition parties were focusing on Iraq because they have "nothing serious to say" about the issues facing Britain.

With the polls coming in a few days, a survey published on Sunday showed the Labor party still holds a five to six points lead over the Conservatives in support rate.

(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2005)