Saddam denies weapons stash and links with al-Qaida

SADDAM HUSSEIN last night denied that Iraq had any links with the al-Qaida terror network and accused Britain and the United States of being more “motivated by war than their responsibility for peace”.

In an hour-long interview with veteran peace campaigner and former Labour MP Tony Benn, shown on Channel 4 News, Saddam denied that he had any weapons of mass destruction.

He also insisted that Iraq was not breaching UN Security Council resolutions and his country faced US-led aggression because of a lust to control oil in the Middle East.

“If we had a relationship with al- Qaida and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it,” he said.

“Therefore I would like to tell you directly and also through you to anyone who is interested to know that we have no relationship with al-Qaida.”

The interview, recorded at one of Saddam’s presidential palaces in Baghdad at the weekend, was aired as US Secretary of State Colin Powell prepared to present a dossier of evidence against Iraq to the Security Council in New York today.

The Iraqi dictator said the US was looking for a pretext to launch a war against his regime and Iraq did not want a confrontation.

Saddam claimed he was using this interview as an opportunity to appeal to the British people and the world for peace.

He said: “There is only one truth and therefore I tell you, as I have said on many occasions before, that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction whatsoever.

“We challenge anyone who claims that we have to bring forward any evidence and present it to public opinion.”

Saddam continued: “Iraq has no interest in war. No Iraqi official or ordinary citizens have expressed a wish to go to war.”

The dictator said his international opponents were trying to justify war and that he had no objections to making sure Iraq was free of weapons of mass destruction.

“These weapons do not come in small pills that you can hide in your pocket. These are weapons of mass destruction and it is easy to work out if Iraq has them or not.”

Saddam said Iraq wanted UN inspections to succeed to prove that it does not have such weapons.

“It is in our interests to help them (inspectors) reach the truth.

“The question is whether the other side wants to reach the truth or whether it wants to find a pretext for aggression.”