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March 12, 2004 |
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***** The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz sent a cable of congratulations to Ghana's President John Agyekum Kufuor on the occasion of his country's independence. In his own name and on behalf of the Saudi government and people, the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques wished the President permanent health and happiness and the friendly people of Ghana steady progress and prosperity, praising good relations binding the two countries and their peoples. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz and the government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's condolences have been extended to the acting president of Macedonia, the parliament speaker and family of late president Boris Trajkovski, who died in a plane crash last week. Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Fahd Ibn Abdul Mohsin Alzaid has extended the condolences and took part in the state funeral ceremonies in Skopje. Leaders from the Balkans and central Europe also paid their last respects and tens of thousands of people lined the streets to see his flag-draped coffin, flanked by an army honor guard. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received the Chairman of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry Abdul Rahman Ibn Ali Al-Jeraisi and Chairmen of the Chambers' Board of Directors who came to greet him. The audience was attended by Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Advisor at Crown Prince's Court, other princes and officials. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received at his palace Prince Sultan Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the General President of Youth Welfare and President of Saudi Football Federation; Prince Nawaf Ibn Faisal Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Vice General President of Youth Welfare and Vice President of Saudi Football Federation; Prince Turki Ibn Khalid Ibn Faisal, Member of the Federation and the Supervisor of the Kingdom's football team; a number of sports officials; and players of the team on the occasion of their winning the Arab Gulf 16th Championship Cup recently held in Kuwait. Prince Sultan congratulated them on this sports achievement, urging on developing their standards and earnestly working at all sports arenas. The Prince laid stress on adhering to Islamic religion in their matters, wishing them all success. Prince Sultan presented them gifts and rewards. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General received at his palace Prince Sultan Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the General President of Youth Welfare and President of Saudi Olympic Committee; Prince Nawaf Ibn Faisal Ibn Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Vice General President of Youth Welfare and Head of Saudi Equestrian Federation; a number of equestrian sports officials; and horsemen of the Kingdom's equestrian team on the occasion of their winning the first position at the Islamic Equestrian Championship recently held in Riyadh. Prince Sultan congratulated them on this sports achievement, urging on developing their standards. The Prince laid stress on behaving well and adhering to the Islamic religion in all their matters. Prince Sultan presented them gifts and rewards. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, chaired the meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Administrative Organization. The participants of the meeting reviewed topics on the agenda. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, has made a telephone call to the family of retired Major General Badr Al Saleh, former commander of the Eastern fleet who died recently. In his call Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz expressed his warmest condolences to the family of the deceased, praying to Almighty Allah to bless his soul. Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, has made a similar telephone call to the family of retired Major General Hamad Marzouk Al Harthi former commander of the air-defence. In his call Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz expressed his warmest condolences to the family of the deceased, praying to Almighty Allah to bless his soul and to grant his family patience. Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister has sent a message to Yemeni Interior Minister Dr. Rashad Al-Olaimi. The message dealt with the existing relations between the two countries and ways to improve these ties. The message was delivered by the Kingdom's Ambassador to Yemen Mohammad Ibn Mirdas Al-Qahtani during a meeting with the Yemeni Interior Minister in Sanaa. Also the Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abu Bakr Al-Qurabi received a message from Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister. The message which was delivered by the Kingdom's Ambassador to Yemen Mohammad Ibn Mirdas Al-Qahtani dealt with means of enhancing the bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, received Tunisia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Al-Habib bin Yahya. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations, ways of enhancing them, regional and international issues of mutual concern and the current situations in the Middle East. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland patronized a ceremony of awarding distinction prizes for the year 2004. Prince Turki Al-Faisal presented the prizes to Mohammed Al-Daraan, the Head of the Embassy's Consular Department and Salam Ibrahim Salman, Employee at Health Attaché Office who thanked the Prince for the prizes. Prince Turki Ibn Nassir Ibn Abdul Aziz, the General President of Meteorology and Protection of Environment, has announced the launch of the Prize of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Environmental Management in the fields of Scientific Research in Environment Management and Pioneering Practices in government, private sector and non-governmental organizations in the Arab world. In a press conference in Jeddah, Prince Turki said the prize was launched upon an initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz to encourage environmental practices in compliance with the instructions of Islam. He said the biennial prize, which amounts to SR750,000, aims at consolidating the concept of environmental management in the Arab world through founding the principles and means of perfect modern management to solve problems which hamper the achievement of sustainable development. Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States of America, has explained that the Royal decree to set up the Saudi National Commission for Relief and Charity activities abroad aims at ensuring that charity money would not fall in the hands of terrorists. In a statement, the embassy in Washington said the decree also aims at preventing the misuse of the Saudi assistance to meet the requirements of the needy in different parts of the world. The statement, signed by the ambassador, said the Kingdom has suspended remittance of charity money abroad over the last eight months, pending the formation of the new body. Accordingly, the commission would be able to resume its activity to help the poor and the needy without any risk of their money falling in third party hands, the statement said. Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs, has made a telephone call to the family of retired Major General Badr Al Saleh, former commander of the Eastern fleet who died recently. In his call Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz expressed his warmest condolences to the family of the deceased, praying to Almighty Allah to bless his soul. Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Military Affairs, has made a similar telephone call to the family of retired Major General Hamad Marzouk Al Harthi former commander of the air-defence. In his call Prince Khalid Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz expressed his warmest condolences to the family of the deceased, praying to Almighty Allah to bless his soul and to grant his family patience. Prince Sultan Ibn Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Secretary General of the Higher Tourism Commission, received Dr Kamal Oghli, the Director of Istanbul-based History, Arts and Islamic Culture Research Center, an affiliate of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). They reviewed aspects of cooperation between the Higher Tourism Commission and the Istanbul-based Research Center. The meeting was attended by a number of senior officials. Yousef Ibn Alawi Ibn Abdullah, the Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs, received Abdel-Wahid Belkaziz, the Secretary General of the Jeddah-based Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). They exchanged views on the current problems of the Muslim world in the light of international developments. Prime Minister Tony Blair said governments could not "err on the side of caution" when dealing with threat of global terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, as he passionately defended his decision to join the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Blair, whose popularity has slumped since the campaign to topple Saddam Hussein, said the decision to commit Britain to the war had been the most divisive he had taken since becoming leader in 1997. But, in a speech to an invited audience in Sedgefield, northern England, he argued that the international community had a "duty and a right to prevent the threat materializing" and to stop a regime brutally oppressing its people. "It may well be that under international law as presently constituted, a regime can systematically brutalize and oppress its people and there is nothing anyone can do, when dialogue, diplomacy and even sanctions fail. ..." said Blair. "This may be the law, but should it be?" A committee of experts on security, legal, political and social affairs will present a complete study on the phenomenon of terrorism to the Saudi Shoura Council for discussion at the Council. The Secretary General of the Council Dr Homoud Al Badr said the study includes details that will help security authorities to root out terrorism. Dr Al Badr said the role of the council was to provide support and alleviate the difficulties facing the committee. He added that the study was delayed as it needed thorough research and achieves a comprehensive study. The people living in the Golan Heights have stressed that they are part of the Syrian homeland. At the end of a meeting held in Mossada they reiterated in a statement that the decision of the Israeli court in Al Nasra ruling that all the endowments lands in this area are to be confiscated, is void as this land belongs to the village and the only area able to deal with it is the endowment committee. A report issued by King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology has stressed that the government is to increase the budget for higher education from 17% in 1420 H to 21% in 1440/1441. It said that the number of students in post graduate studies will also be increased form 3% to 7% in the year 2020. The plan is also to increase the number of graduates in 2020 to reach 197 in the field of science and technology. The General Organization for silos and flour mills has set up a special programme to pay 16 thousand farmers. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz have issued directives to pay the farmers a sum of SR3400 million. The organisation said the payment will start straight away and has asked each farmer to provide their IDs and certificates from the agricultural bank. Head of Saudi Shoura (Consultative) Council Delegation Yusuf Abdul-Sattar Al-Maymani described talks with the German officials as "very good". In a statement to The Saudi Press Agency, Al-Maymani affirmed to the Deputy Speaker of German Parliament, Lamirt Norbert the keenness of the Saudi Shoura Council to enhance relations with the German Parliament. Al-Maymani noted that they discussed the Kingdom's efforts toward combating terrorism, adding that he also made a briefing on how the Kingdom has suffered from it. He pointed out that terrorists can not reach their goals in harming peace and stability in the Kingdom due to cohesion between the people and government. He added that Islam is free from allegations of terrorism as it calls for tolerance and peaceful co-existence among peoples and cultures. An official Yemeni source has categorically denied a report pertaining to an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Colonel Ahmad Ali Abdullah Salih, the Commander of the Republic Guard. The report said after the unsuccessful attempt, Colonel Ahmad was airlifted to Jordan for medical treatment. 'The report was fabricated and baseless', said the official source noting that the report was circulated by some biased and spiteful quarters. There are reports that the United States is on the brink of announcing sanctions against Syria under a 2003 law which allows President George W. Bush to punish countries for alleged support of radical Islamic groups. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AFP news agency, that sanctions were imminent. Last November the US Congress approved economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria, which Washington accuses of supporting terrorism. Washington could also move to ban the sale of technology with military applications, bar Syrian aircraft from US airspace and freeze the assets of Syrians in the United States. Syria has vehemently denied US claims that it supports terrorism and has turned a blind eye to militants crossing into Iraq. Home Secretary David Blunkett has outlined measures being considered to stop a terror attack on the UK. Options include allowing the use of secretly-taped phone calls as evidence in trials of terrorist suspects. The home secretary says it is inevitable the UK will face a terror attack - and he wants a public debate about what should be done to thwart it. Mr Blunkett, who addressed MPs in the Commons, also detailed plans for a big expansion of MI5. Ahead of the publication of the Home Office options paper, Mr Blunkett told the BBC the security services needed more powers to apprehend terrorists before they strike. But that argument is facing a rocky ride in the Commons from MPs concerned about the post 11 September terror laws, which allow foreign terror suspects to be detained without trial. They are debating criticisms of the terror laws published in December by a review group chaired by Lord Newton. It said detentions had not been used excessively but pushed for them to be replaced by measures which did not need Britain to opt out of European human rights laws. There are currently 14 foreign suspects being held at Belmarsh prison without charges under anti-terrorist laws. Mr Blunkett said he believed that the ability to detain foreigners without trial "was, and remains, necessary". But Conservative shadow home secretary David Davis backed calls for alternatives to the detention powers to be found. That search should focus on removing legal obstacles to prosecutions, including the ban on using phone-tap evidence in courts, said Mr Davis, who expressed reservations about some other anti-terror proposals. The new options paper shows what other countries are doing and recommendations from reviews of current British laws. It sets out the nature of the threat faced, the way al-Qaeda operates, the reasoning behind the controversial powers to detain foreign terror suspects and a response to the review of current anti-terror laws. The idea is to "take the temperature of the country", by asking people to say where the balance lies between security and the defence of civil liberties, said a Home Office spokesman. He said a "short list of discussion" points would only prompt criticism from civil rights groups. A policy paper will be produced after the six month consultation. Mr Blunkett said he had been told by the head of MI6 that a terror attack on Britain was a case of "when" rather than "if", but it was difficult to get people to believe this was the case. Mr Blunkett admitted the UK was only a few steps away from a secret trial system. But he did not intend to lower the standard of proof for terror cases, although there could be civil court orders for those on the fringes of terror groups, he said. Deputy President Abdul Halim Khaddam criticized the US initiative for reformation in the Middle East saying that this initiative preceded the First World War. "the entrance to any kind of cooperation among what they have called the " Greater Middle East" and any foreign parties is the liquidation of the Israeli occupation and the implementation of the UN resolutions." Khaddam said in a statement to reporters following his meeting with an Iraqi tribal delegation. In response to a question on the American initiative for the reformation of the Middle East, he said that they proposed this initiative to put an end to violence they believe that what they have called an initiative may bring stability to the region but they forgot the Israeli violations, crimes and pressures on the Arab countries in an attempt to control the region "Such things constitute a state of tension in the region", he added. Khaddam stressed that no one can impose anything on the Arab because reform and development are necessary needs for all the peoples not only for the Arabs. The Palestinian leadership condemned the Gaza carnage that killed fifteen and wounded up to eighty civilians. In a statement, the leadership strongly condemned the Israeli Atrocious crime against the Palestinian people and called on the UN Security Council and Human Rights institutions to protect the Palestinian people Against Israel"s policy of annihilation.The leadership, also, called on the International Community to urgently move to provide protection to the Palestinian people so as to halt the Continued Israeli aggression, the statement concluded. Moreover, the Palestinian government vigorously denounced Israeli's state terrorism and the current carnage committed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in Al Bureij and Al Nusseirat refugee camps. On its part, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) strongly condemned the new Israeli carnage against the Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps of al-Nusseirat and al-Bureij in Gaza City. It also appealed to world parliaments, governments, peoples and all peace advocates, to immediately move to put an end to Israel's new wave of terror against the Palestinian people. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed, Sunday morning, fifteen Palestinian citizens and wounded eighty others in the refugee camps of al-Bureij and al-Nusseirat, in central Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said. Dozens of Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles, backed by Apache attack helicopters, stormed the two refugee camps under a barrage of heavy fire on people and their property causing fatal death to more than ten civilians including children, witnesses said. "Around 03:00 a.m Israeli undercover units, backed by several tanks, swept into al-Buraij camp, amid intensive fire killing and wounding tens of people," Ahmad al-Jadeili, a resident of al-Buraij told WAFA. He added that "Two helicopters were hovering in the sky and opened heavy gunshots on our houses. It is horrible, I felt as in war". Witnesses from al-Nusseirat refugee camp reported that tens of Israeli snipers occupied the roofs of high constructions and targeted civilians. "Israeli troops besieged the house of Mohammed Awad, the soldiers positioned on the roof and began shooting at any movable body," Saed al-Shareef, an eyewitness from Nusseirat said. Palestinian medical sources affirmed that thirteen citizens were instantly killed Sunday morning while more than fifty others were wounded, many of them are in critical conditions. "Thirteen citizens were killed including a 14-year old child, Mohammed Badawi. Most of the wounded were shot in the upper part of their bodies, mainly necks and heads" Dr. Ibraheem al-Mosaddar, director al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza Strip, told WAFA. Tens of Palestinian ambulances rushed to the scenes of the Israeli massacre attempting to evacuate victims, but "as usual, Israeli troops targeted the paramedics and restricted their movement," hospital official in Gaza said. Palestinian security sources told WAFA that at least 30 Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) moved from the Israeli colony of "Nitzareem", south of Gaza City, and invaded the two refugee camps. Iran has taken steps toward reassuring the world its nuclear program is peaceful and wants the U.N. atomic watchdog agency to finish its review, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said. Hasan Rowhani made his comments a day before the International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to discuss Iran's nuclear program. "We have two goals ahead of us that we must achieve -- one is ending Iran's nuclear dossier with the IAEA board of governors. Iran's dossier has to be completely taken out of the IAEA board of governors' agenda," Rowhani told a meeting of the Experts Assembly, the body empowered to elect or dismiss Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The other goal, he said, is to have Iran recognized globally as a nuclear country. Rowhani, who also chairs the Supreme National Security Council, did not say when the review should be closed and did not threaten to end Iran's cooperation with the IAEA"We want Iran to be recognized as a member of the nuclear club, that means Iran to be recognized as a country having the nuclear fuel cycle, and enriching uranium. This is very difficult for the world to accept," he said. In his weekly address President George W. Bush said terrorists launched a series of attacks in Iraq, targeting religious sites in Baghdad and Karbala, during commemorations marking the Shia holy day of AshouraSome of these killers behind these attacks are supporters of Saddams former regime. Others are foreign terrorists. All of them are determined to halt and reverse all progress toward freedom in Iraq. One of the terrorist leaders, a killer named Zarqawi, recently wrote to a senior al Qaeda terrorist of his plan to tear Iraq apart with ethnic violence, to undermine Iraqi security forces, to demoralize our coalition, and to prevent the rise of a sovereign, democratic government. The killers strategy will fail. Immediately after the attacks, the world saw members of Iraq's Governing Council and other Iraqis quickly condemn the bombings, and voice their determination that their country will be peaceful and free. The Iraqi people refuse to live in fear, and so do the members of our coalition. Fighting alongside the people of Iraq, we will defeat the terrorists who seek to plunge Iraq into chaos and violence, and we will stand with the people of Iraq for as long as necessary to build a stable, peaceful and successful democracy. The Iraqi people are making excellent progress. Members of the Governing Council are having a free and open and spirited debate as they complete a new framework for governing their nation. This transitional administrative law will result in protecting the rights of all Iraqis, and will move the country toward a democratic future. A year ago, Iraq's only law was the whim of one brutal man. When the new law takes effect, Iraqis will, for the first time in decades, live under the clear protections of a written bill of rights. Under this law, all Iraqis will be treated equally. No religious or ethnic groups will be favoured, and none will suffer discrimination at the hands of the state. The law will protect the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, the right to organize political parties, the right to vote in fair elections, and the right to worship according to ones own conscience. The law also will guarantee the right to a speedy, fair and open trial. No Iraqi will ever again have to fear the midnight knock of the secret police. The transitional administrative law will establish a clear path for the transition to full Iraqi sovereignty on June 30th of this year. Our coalition of 34 countries and the United Nations will continue to work closely with the Iraqi people as they progress toward this goal. The law calls for the election of a transitional national assembly by January 31, 2005. Later that year, this assembly will draft a new constitution to be ratified by the Iraqi people. And by the end of next year, the Iraqi people will elect a parliament and establish a government that is fully representative and truly free. Difficult work in creating a new Iraqi government remains. Yet Iraqis are equal to the tasks before them. The Iraqi people have shown the world that they are fully capable of living in freedom. The former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has declared that the war in Iraq was illegal. Mr Blix, speaking to The Independent, said the Attorney General's legal advice to the Government on the eve of war, giving cover for military action by the US and Britain, had no lawful justification. He said it would have required a second United Nations resolution explicitly authorising the use of force for the invasion of Iraq last March to have been legal. In an exclusive interview, Mr Blix said: "I don't buy the argument the war was legalised by the Iraqi violation of earlier resolutions." Mr Blix demolished the argument advanced by Lord Goldsmith three days before the war began, which stated that resolution 1441 authorised the use of force because it revived earlier UN resolutions passed after the 1991 ceasefire. Mr Blix said that while it was possible to argue that Iraq had breached the ceasefire by violating UN resolutions adopted since 1991, the "ownership" of the resolutions rested with the entire 15-member Security Council and not with individual states. "It's the Security Council that is party to the ceasefire, not the UK and US individually, and therefore it is the council that has ownership of the ceasefire, in my interpretation." He said to challenge that interpretation would set a dangerous precedent. "Any individual member could take a view - the Russians could take one view, the Chinese could take another, they could be at war with each other, theoretically," Mr Blix said. Asked whether, in his view, a second resolution authorising force should have been adopted, Mr Blix replied: "Oh yes." The U.S. Justice Department has sent a team of prosecutors to Iraq to begin preparing for the trial of ousted President Saddam Hussein and other former top Iraqi officials on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. But it will take months before the tribunal is set to hear cases. The first of what will be some 50 Justice Department officials are expected in Iraq in the coming days, charged with helping Iraqis sift through the evidence and develop the case against Saddam Hussein and other former top Iraqi officials. From Baghdad, Salem Chalabi, the Iraqi lawyer in charge of overseeing the tribunal, said "They'll be helping us with things like investigations and stuff like that, which we need a lot of assistance on," he said. "The Iraqi investigative judges and prosecutors don't have too much experience in these kinds of complex litigation cases and so that's what they'll be assisting us with." Iraqis themselves will be charge of conducting the tribunal, which will be an independent body founded on Iraqi and international law, with jurisdiction over any Iraqi implicated in a war crime during the Saddam Hussein era. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, spoke about the court saying "The Iraqis have established this tribunal. They now need to people it [staff it] with investigators and judges and prosecutors and what we'll be doing is helping them figure out how to pull together the evidence," he said. When the tribunal will actually begin hearing cases has not yet been determined. Salem Chalabi expects that date is still months away. "I'm talking nine months for the first trial to start," he said. And, he says, another factor which could have an impact on the court is the security situation in Iraq. "I don't imagine that attacks and stuff like that would affect it substantially unless courtrooms, etc. are targeted," he said. "We don't want to take it out of the country because this is very much an Iraqi process." The Pentagon's most senior commander in Iraq, General John Abizaid, said he objects the formation of Shiites militias in Iraq as this would mean establishing ethnic militias that would appear as not being there for defence only. Abizaid also said his men had foiled several terrorist attacks intended to coincide with those that killed more than 170 people in Baghdad and Karbala. General Abizaid was speaking during an appearance before the House armed services committee in Washington, and followed the worst suicide bombings in Iraq since the US occupation began. The bombings, aimed at Shiite pilgrims in Karbala and Baghdad, were clearly designed to trigger sectarian violence between the Shiite majority and Sunni minority. Israeli troops raided two Gaza refugee camps early Sunday, sparking gunbattles that killed 13 Palestinians _ including an 8-year-old boy. In Sunday's raid, at least 59 Palestinians, among them nine in critical condition, were wounded in the ongoing fighting, said Abdullah Abu Samahadana, governor of central Gaza. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat condemned Sunday's raid, calling for a return to negotiations on the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan. "At a time when they're speaking about withdrawing from Gaza, they're destroying Gaza," Erekat said. In the two years before the war in Iraq, American intelligence agencies reviewed but ultimately dismissed reports from Iraqi scientists, defectors and other informants who said Saddam Hussein's government did not possess illicit weapons, according to government officials. The reports, which ran contrary to the conclusions of the intelligence agencies and the Bush administration, were not acknowledged publicly by top government officials before the invasion last March. In public statements, the agencies and the administration cited only reports from informants who supported the view that Iraq possessed so-called weapons of mass destruction, which the administration cited as a main justification for going to war. The first public hint of those reports came in a speech by Jane Harman, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, she said "indications" were emerging from the panel's inquiry into pre-war intelligence that "potential sources may have been dismissed because they were telling us something we didn't want to believe: that Iraq had no active W.M.D. programs." Other government officials said they knew of several occasions from 2001 to 2003 when Iraqi scientists, defectors and others had told American intelligence officers, their foreign partners or other intelligence agents that Iraq did not possess illicit weapons. The officials said they believed that intelligence agencies had dismissed the reports because they did not conform to a view, held widely within the administration and among intelligence analysts, that Iraq was hiding an illicit arsenal. The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment directly on Ms. Harman's remarks. But an intelligence official said: "Human intelligence offering different views was by no means discounted or ignored. It was considered and weighed against all the other information available, and analysts made their best judgments." The government officials who described the contradictory reports have detailed knowledge of pre-war intelligence on Iraq and were critical of the C.I.A.'s handling of the information. Because the information remains classified, the officials declined to discuss the identity of the sources in any detail, but said they believed the informants' views had been dismissed because they challenged the widely held consensus on Iraq's weapons. A second senior government official, who confirmed that account, said the view that Iraq possessed illicit weapons had been "treated like a religion" within American intelligence agencies, with alternative views never given serious attention. The officials said they could not quantify the reports. |