MI6 denied threat of Iraq weapons, claim Cook and Short

FORMER British cabinet ministers Robin Cook and Clare Short said yesterday they were both told by MI6 in the run-up to the war with Iraq that Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction did not pose any immediate threat.

Mr Cook and Ms Short, who both resigned over the conflict, said they had been briefed by MI6 more properly known as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) - in the days before the war.

Ms Short, giving evidence to the opening session of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into the use of intelligence in the war, said she had been told by MI6 that while the work of weapons scientists was being kept hidden by the Iraqis, "the risk of use was less".