Finding WMD 'will take time'

2004-01-22 10:35

Washington - Vice President Dick Cheney said that the US administration has not given up on the so far fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The "jury is still out," he said.

"It's going to take some additional, considerable period of time in order to look in all the cubby holes and the ammo dumps and all the places in Iraq where you might expect to find something like that," Cheney said in an interview on Wednesday with National Public Radio. "It doesn't take a large storage space to store deadly toxins, or even just the capacity to produce it."

Cheney also said that he's confident that there was a relationship between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The US administration, however, has said in the past that there is no evidence that Saddam was behind the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"I think there's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government," Cheney said. "I'm very confident that there was an established relationship there."

Cheney spoke the day before he leaves on a five-day trip to Europe, where he will seek help in the war on terrorism, speak out against the spread of weapons and attempt to smooth ruffled relations with allies.

Cheney leaves on Thursday for Davos, Switzerland, to address the World Economic Forum. After that, he will visit Rome.

The US administration's relations with some European allies and the United Nations soured after the US-led invasion of Iraq. Now, the United States wants UN experts to help resolve a dispute between the United States and a top Shi'ite cleric over the best way to transfer power to the Iraqis.

'I don't object to the UN per se'

"I don't have a fundamental objection to the UN per se," Cheney said on the radio. "I do think their role has to be focused. The US is still going to be there for some considerable period of time dealing with the security issues. The UN simply doesn't have the kind of forces to do what we do.

Cheney's address at the economic forum on Saturday is expected to offer a long-term perspective on the global war on terror and echo the administration's optimistic assessment of post-war Iraq and the US economy.

After bitter arguments with allies about the war in Iraq, the administration believes that trans-Atlantic relations are improving.

In Rome, Cheney will meet and have dinner with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, a chief backer of the Iraq war. Cheney also plans to visit the pope and meet with Italy's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

He will give a speech to the next generation of Italian leaders, a talk that will be held at the Italian Senate. Later, he will travel to Anzio, a seaside resort in central Italy, to recognise the 60th anniversary of the landing of Allied troops during World War II. On his way home, he plans to stop at US military operations in Vicenza and Aviano to visit with American military personnel and their families.

- AP