Benn interview with Saddam to be shown

YESTERDAY'S meeting between Tony Benn and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will be broadcast within the next day or two, the former Labour cabinet member said.

Mr Benn, an anti-war activist and Labour Party veteran, told a news conference the interview was filmed by Iraqi television He said it would be available to any television station that pledged to show it in its entirety.

He did not say which television station was going to air it. Mr Benn, who was leaving for Britain last night, declined to give details of the Iraqi president's remarks.

The former Chesterfield MP told reporters he had asked Saddam if Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction and whether it had any links to the al-Qaida network

He would not say how Saddam answered "I do believe it is possible to halt the march to war," he said.