US tried to discredit our work says Blix

US officials sought to discredit the United Nations’ weapons inspectors in the period ahead of the outbreak of war against Iraq, chief investigator Dr Hans Blix claimed today.

Dr Blix also argued that the US and UK had relied on “shaky” intelligence when building the case for military action.

Dr Blix, who will today address the UN Security Council in New York in a closed session, made his comments in an interview for a BBC2 programme The Road to War, the Inside Story to be broadcast next Saturday.

The UN’s chief weapons inspector, who faces American opposition to his ambitions to return to Iraq to complete his work, said the US had deliberately leaked stories about an Iraqi military drone and cluster bombs.

In an excerpt from the interview, broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dr Blix said: “At that time the US was very eager to sway the votes of the Security Council and they felt that stories about these things would be useful to have and they let it out.

“Thereby they tried to hurt us a bit and say that we had suppressed this. It was not the case and it was a bit unfair and hurt us, and I felt a little displeased about it.

“But you know this is a rough and tough game, and I don’t think that we really felt desolate about it.”

Dr Blix continued: “I think it has been one of the disturbing elements that so much of the intelligence on which the capitals built their case seems to have been shaky and there are some flagrant cases.

“We have heard about the alleged contract between Iraq and Niger about the import of some 500 tonnes of ... uranium. When the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) got the contract they had no great difficulty in finding out that this was a fake, falsified simply.

“I think that is very, very disturbing. Who falsifies this? And is it not disturbing that the intelligence agencies that should have all the technical means at their disposal did not discover that this was falsified?”