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30/05/2003
Blair rejects weapons dossier doctoring claim
Tony Blair has rejected suggestions that a Government dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction was rewritten to make it “sexier”, branding the claims “completely absurd”.
The claims, which were made to the BBC on Thursday by a senior British intelligence official, emerged as Mr Blair became the first Western leader to visit Iraq after the end of the war.
At a press conference held this morning, the UK prime minister - currently in Poland where he is delivering a speech on the EU - said that Saddam Hussein’s chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes were not “some invention by the British security services" but had been well documented by the United Nations.
Mr Blair said that he had “no doubt” about the reliability of the evidence regarding Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction and stated: “The idea that we authorized or made our intelligence agencies invent some piece of evidence is completely absurd”.
The dossier, which was published last September, claimed that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to activate his biological and chemical weapons in just 45 minutes.
However, the intelligence official claimed that the dossier had been changed a week before it was published, on the orders of Downing Street and said that the statement regarding the time in which the weapons would be ready for use had not been included in the original draft, because it “wasn’t reliable”.
“Most things in the dossier were double source,” the official told the BBC. “But that was single source and we believe that the source was wrong.”
However, the official said that he was convinced that Iraq had a programme to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and said that it was around 30% likely that they had a biological programme. He also said that some of the evidence had been “downplayed” by chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix and added that captured Iraqi scientists had not yet provided much information.
Downing Street has stated that “not one word of the dossier was not entirely the work of the intelligence agencies”.
The Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee is to conduct an inquiry into the Government’s claims about Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Labour MP, Tam Dydell, who was opposed to the war in Iraq, has called for a Commons statement on the claims.
(KMcA)
The claims, which were made to the BBC on Thursday by a senior British intelligence official, emerged as Mr Blair became the first Western leader to visit Iraq after the end of the war.
At a press conference held this morning, the UK prime minister - currently in Poland where he is delivering a speech on the EU - said that Saddam Hussein’s chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes were not “some invention by the British security services" but had been well documented by the United Nations.
Mr Blair said that he had “no doubt” about the reliability of the evidence regarding Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction and stated: “The idea that we authorized or made our intelligence agencies invent some piece of evidence is completely absurd”.
The dossier, which was published last September, claimed that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to activate his biological and chemical weapons in just 45 minutes.
However, the intelligence official claimed that the dossier had been changed a week before it was published, on the orders of Downing Street and said that the statement regarding the time in which the weapons would be ready for use had not been included in the original draft, because it “wasn’t reliable”.
“Most things in the dossier were double source,” the official told the BBC. “But that was single source and we believe that the source was wrong.”
However, the official said that he was convinced that Iraq had a programme to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and said that it was around 30% likely that they had a biological programme. He also said that some of the evidence had been “downplayed” by chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix and added that captured Iraqi scientists had not yet provided much information.
Downing Street has stated that “not one word of the dossier was not entirely the work of the intelligence agencies”.
The Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee is to conduct an inquiry into the Government’s claims about Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Labour MP, Tam Dydell, who was opposed to the war in Iraq, has called for a Commons statement on the claims.
(KMcA)
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Libya adopts Chemical Weapons Convention
Weapons inspectors have met with the Libyan government today as the Chemical Weapons Convention, which the country adopted last month, comes into force. A team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were in Tripoli today after Libya became the 159th State to join the convention.
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Blair and Bush stand behind decision to go to war
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12 January 2010
Campbell Quizzed On Iraq
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25 October 2004
UK must act now to defend itself against bio-terrorism, says BMA
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UK must act now to defend itself against bio-terrorism, says BMA
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14 February 2008
Bullied Youngsters 'Carry Weapons'
An increasing number of children claim to carry weapons in order to fend off attacks from bullies, a report has claimed. The report was written by Roger Morgan, the Children’s Rights Director for England, and states that many children claim to carry objects such as knives and bottles to defend themselves.
Bullied Youngsters 'Carry Weapons'
An increasing number of children claim to carry weapons in order to fend off attacks from bullies, a report has claimed. The report was written by Roger Morgan, the Children’s Rights Director for England, and states that many children claim to carry objects such as knives and bottles to defend themselves.
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:After a dry start this morning rain will spread from the northwest across all parts. This afternoon will be dull with some patchy rain and drizzle. Becoming much milder through the afternoon. Maximum temperature 11 °C.Tonight:A cloudy evening and night with a little light rain or drizzle, perhaps some clear periods developing along the east coast. A very mild night everywhere. Minimum temperature 10 °C.
