US intelligence about Iraq WMD 'faulty'

The man America assigned to unearth weapons of mass destruction in Iraq says US intelligence about Saddam Hussein's suspected WMD was flawed.

But David Kay, the chief weapons inspector who resigned from office on January 23, told US Congress on Wednesday that the information was not distorted.

Kay, who headed the Iraq Survey Group, also said Washington was clueless about how far Iran and Libya's nuclear programmes had developed.

Also Read US finds no banned weapons in Iraq

He told the Senate Armed Services Committee that his teams had found no chemical or biological weapons in Iraq.

There was no evidence of nuclear weapons either, he added.

Kay added his team had 'no evidence' that Saddam Hussein had links with Al Qaeda.

He felt there was far too great reliance on satellite images to collect intelligence, and this had led to an erroneous assessment of Iraq's accumulation of WMD.

However, Kay cleared the White House of using US intelligence agencies to build a case for war by creating a false impression of Saddam's WMD.

Kay felt US intelligence agencies did not understand that Hussein was creating an impression about an arsenal of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to bolster his image as a modern-day Saladin in the Arab world, long suspicious about his intentions and his secular credentials.

Ultimately, that gambit backfired on the Iraqi dictator.

Wary that Saddam could use those ultimately illusory weapons against Israel, the US and its allies like Britain struck back last year, destroying his Baathist regime.

In recent days, the Bush administration has toned down its rhetoric about Saddam's WMD, with several officials including the President giving indirect, muffled responses.