British Prime Minister Gordon Brown took part in a hearing of the Iraq War Inquiry in London on Friday, ending a long public silence on his involvement in the conflict.

Brown, who served as finance minister at the start of the 2003 invasion before taking over as prime minister in 2007, told the panel that deposing Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do.

Twice right

In testimony before a looming national election, Brown opened his remarks by praising the sacrifices of those who fought and died before immediately addressing a critical question: Did he agree with Britain's choice of going to war?

"It was the right decision and it was for the right reasons," he said.

Brown said that as finance minister he was not invited to all the planning meetings on Iraq but he always had adequate information.

"I received full intelligence briefings and received information that I thought was credible," he said, admitting that British agents and a number of other intelligence services, made incorrect assessments of Saddam's weapons capability.

Funding questions

Prior to appearing before the panel, Brown said he had "nothing to hide" from the public. His appearance comes weeks after former Prime Minister Tony Blair said he had "no regrets" about sending British troops to Iraq.

Critics have accused Brown of under-funding the war, and protestors outside the Houses of Parliament held a symbolic "bloodstained" check to hand to Brown as he entered the hearing.

Brown told the inquiry that the war in Iraq cost "something in the order of 8 billion pounds (8.8 billion euros) ... on top of a rising defense budget." He said that military commanders' requests for funding or equipment were never turned down.

US did not prioritize reconstruction

Brown also criticized the previous American presidential administration's attitude toward the need to rebuild Iraq after the invasion.

"We couldn't persuade the Americans that this had to take the priority that it deserved," Brown said. "I regret this. I can't take responsibility for everything that went wrong."

acb/jen/dpa/AFP/AP
Editor: Rob Turner