Claim Blair ‘deliberately’ linked Iraq and al-Qaida

TONY BLAIR deliberately conflated the threats from Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida following the 9/11 attacks, an Iraq War inquiry was told yesterday.

British Foreign Office officials have repeatedly told the official inquiry, sitting in London, that British intelligence had no evidence of any connection between the Iraqi regime and al-Qaida.

But former British ambassador to the US, Christopher Meyer, said Mr Blair had directly linked the two following a private meeting with President George W Bush at his Texas ranch.