A report into Australian intelligence failings in the lead-up to the Iraq war has cleared the government of interfering with intelligence assessments to boost its case for joining the US-led invasion, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

TONY Blair was last night under mounting pressure to reveal if Clare Short's United Nations bugging claims were true after fresh revelations of spying.

The mobile phone of United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix was tapped whenever he was in Iraq and the information shared between the United States, Britain and their allies, Australian radio reported today.

The Australian government was today accused of exaggerating the threat posed by Saddam Hussein to justify sending its soldiers to war in Iraq.

FOR clues to where the al-Qaida network could strike next, the words of its leader, Osama bin Laden, are a treasure trove. And for an insight into its strength, the suicide bombers in Riyadh offer a lesson.