By Catarina Demony

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Britain's former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson, who was dismissed over his links to Jeffrey Epstein last year, apologised on Sunday to the victims of the late convicted sex offender but not for his own actions.

Mandelson was fired in September over emails that came to light revealing a much closer relationship than previously acknowledged. The veteran British politician called Epstein "my best pal" and had advised him on seeking early jail release.

"I want to apologise to those women for a system that refused to hear their voices and did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect," Mandelson told the BBC broadcaster when asked if he wanted to say sorry for his links.

Mandelson said he would only apologise for his own ties if he had known about Epstein's actions or been complicit.

"I was not culpable, I was not knowledgeable of what he was doing," he said.

"I believed his story and that of his lawyer, who spent a lot of time trying to persuade me of this ... that he had been falsely criminalised in his contact with these young women. Now I wish I had not believed that story."

Britain's government said at the time of Mandelson's dismissal that the depth of his ties to Epstein appeared "materially different" from what was known at the time of his appointment.

It has since named Christian Turner as its next ambassador to the U.S. in a pivotal moment for transatlantic ties.

"Do you really think that if I knew what was going on and what he was doing with and to these vulnerable young women that I'd have just sat back, ignored it and moved on?", Mandelson added in the interview, describing Epstein as an "evil monster".

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)