Bush stands by his story

2004-06-17 20:10

Washington - US President George W Bush insisted on Thursday that Saddam Hussein had "connections" with al-Qaeda, despite an official report that found no credible evidence of operational ties between the two.

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al-Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda," he told reporters as he met with his Cabinet.

That link, frequently cited by Bush and top aides as a reason for going to war to oust Saddam, has been called into question by the commission probing the September 11, 2001 attacks by Osama bin Laden's network.

Saddam "was a threat because he was a sworn enemy to the United States of America, just like al-Qaeda. He was a threat because he had terrorist connections, not only al Qaeda connections, but other connections," said Bush.

A staff report released by the national inquiry commission said there was no "credible evidence" Iraq had helped al-Qaeda to attack the United States and no sign of any "collaborative relationship" between Baghdad and the group.

"This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al-Qaeda. We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda," said the president.

But if he never did so explicitly, Bush last year called Saddam "an ally of al-Qaeda." Then White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer suggested there was "an unholy partnership" between the two, and top aides said Saddam's regime had provided chemical and biological weapons know-how to Osama bin Laden's network.

The commission report, issued as the panel began a final two days of hearings, said bin Laden "explored possible co-operation with Iraq" while based in Sudan in the early 1990s, even though he opposed Saddam's secular regime.

Bush pointed to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, an al-Qaeda-linked militant suspected of attacks in Iraq, as proof of ties between bin Laden's group and Iraqi insurgents.

Saddam "was a threat because he provided safe haven for a terrorist like Zarqawi who is still killing innocents inside of Iraq," the president said.

- AFP