Saddam ‘planned US attack’

RUSSIA gave the Bush administration intelligence after the September 11 attacks that suggested Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was preparing attacks in the United States, President Vladimir Putin said yesterday.

Putin said he couldn’t comment on how critical the Russians’ information was in the US decision to invade Iraq.

In Washington, a US official said Putin’s information did not add to what the United States already knew about Saddam’s intentions.

The Bush administration in part justified the invasion of Iraq by saying Saddam had links to terror groups, including al-Qaida. The US commission investigating the September 11 attacks said this week there was no evidence of any collaboration between Iraq and Osama bin Laden’s terror network.

Putin said Russia didn’t have any information that Saddam’s regime was actually behind any terrorist acts.