Special US unit seeks out Iraq al-Qaida links

SPECIAL operations units in the US military have contacted Iraq’s notorious secret police to attempt to acquire documents which might show Baghdad’s links with al-Qaida.

American officials believe the intelligence papers will also detail Saddam Hussein’s war crimes during his brutal 24-year rule and where he may be hiding weapons of mass destruction.

The covert mission to contact selected members of Iraq’s intelligence service, the Mukhabarat, could help justify the military action by the US and Britain, a senior official told the Washington Times.