(Financial Times-UK) - James Blitz and Mark Huband A senior Iraqi officer on active service within the country's military provided British intelligence last August with the information that Iraq could fire chemical or biological warheads within 45 minutes of Saddam Hussein giving the order, according to senior Whitehall officials. There had been assertions that intelligence about the Iraqi capability had come via the U.S. from an "unreliable" source, an Iraqi defector with contacts with the Iraqi opposition movement. Prime Minister Blair remained confident that chemical and biological weapons would be found in Iraq, saying that the Iraq Survey Group - made up of 1,400 UK, U.S., and Australian officials - were only now starting their work.
2003-06-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive