TONY BLAIR’S weasel words justifying the invasion of Iraq were dismissed yesterday as more of his infamous spin as he dramatically admitted some responsibility for the rise of Islamic State (Isis).

He said that there were “elements of truth” in the analysis that the war in Iraq was “the principal cause” in the rise of Isis.

But the former Labour prime minister side-stepped a full admission of guilt, blaming “false intelligence” for his decision to support the US in attacking the oil-rich country.

“This really is not much of an apology at all. As usual with Blair, he tries to blame somebody else,” said Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German.

“He is blaming people who he says gave him ‘false information.’ But if you look at the dossier which he and Alistair Campbell produced — in Alistair Campbell’s words it was ‘sexed up’ to make the case for war.

“It is not an apology. It is Blair trying to spin himself out of blame.”

Mr Blair’s comments came as the date approaches for publication of the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war, which Ms German acknowledged.

But she added that Mr Blair was also speaking now because of last week’s revelation that in 2002 former US secretary of state Colin Powell had advised then president George Bush that Mr Blair was committed to war on Iraq well in advance of any vote in Parliament.

“Powell said that Blair was absolutely up for going to war — absolute proof that Blair was planning the war a year before it happened,” said Ms German.

Mr Blair made his guarded admission in an interview with Fareed Zakaria for US news channel CNN.

“I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong because, even though he had used chemical weapons extensively against his own people, against others, the program in the form that we thought it was did not exist in the way that we thought,” he said.

“Of course you can’t say those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015.”

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also accused Mr Blair of preparing for the worst when the long-delayed report of the Chilcot inquiry is published.

“The Blair spin operation begins, but the country still awaits the truth,” the SNP leader said.

And former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell said: “No matter what Tony Blair says — or any criticisms there will be of him in the Chilcot inquiry report — people have long since made up their minds.

“The inevitable truth is that Iraq is his legacy and it will be his epitaph.”