The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has quietly concluded without any evidence of the banned weapons that President George Bush cited as justification for going to war, the White House said today.

The hunt for Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction has formally come to an end in Iraq, it emerged today.

The man leading an independent investigation into alleged corruption in the United Nations’ oil-for-food programme said most of the money illegally obtained by Saddam Hussein came from smuggling, much of which the UN Security Council knew about but did not stop.

SAY what you like about the US, but its approach to internal dissent is in a different league to that of countries like Saudi Arabia and Cuba.

The US-led post-war government in Iraq awarded business to two multinational banks fined for violating US sanctions against Iraq during the regime of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, records show.

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister John Howard gave his last nationally televised campaign speech yesterday as he bids for a fourth three-year term. He didn’t mention Iraq once.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard gave his last nationally televised campaign speech today as he bids for a fourth three-year term. He didn’t mention Iraq once.

US Vice President Dick Cheney asserted today that a report by the chief US weapons inspector in Iraq, who found no evidence that Iraq produced weapons of mass destruction after 1991, justifies rather than undermines President Bush’s decision to go to war.

CONTRADICTING the main argument for a war that has cost more than 1,000 American lives, the top US arms inspector reported yesterday that he found no evidence that Iraq produced any weapons of mass destruction after 1991.

The top US arms inspector reported today that he found no evidence that Iraq produced any weapons of mass destruction after 1991.

The final report of the chief US arms inspector for Iraq was expected to undercut a principal Bush administration rationale for removing Saddam Hussein, that Saddam’s Iraqi government had weapons of mass destruction.

THE Bush administration has concluded that fallen Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not have stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

A report will contain “a good deal of new information” backing up the Bush administration’s contention that Saddam Hussein pursued weapons of mass destruction, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner said yesterday.

US weapons hunters in Iraq have found some new details of Saddam Hussein’s weapons programmes, including more evidence that the regime had civilian factories able to quickly produce biological and chemical weapons, the CIA’s top weapons inspector told senators.

The CIA named a new inspector to lead the search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, choosing a veteran investigator who has expressed scepticism that Saddam Hussein possessed banned weapons that posed an immediate threat.

The top United States weapons inspector in Iraq is stepping down, it was announced the evening.

THE United Nations has asked for a fresh report from its chief weapons inspector Hans Blix as it considers sending teams back to Iraq.