Iraq challenges allies over arms declaration

IRAQ said yesterday it had nothing to hide over its arms programmes and that the United States was even welcome to send in CIA agents to direct UN inspectors to sites it deemed suspect.

Amir al-Saadi, an adviser to President Saddam Hussein, held a news conference in an apparent public relations drive against ever clearer threats of war coming from Washington and London.

Saadi said UN inspections over the past four weeks had shown US and British charges that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction were “lies and baseless”, but Baghdad was still ready to answer further questions from the Western allies.