Agency doubted claims of Iraq link to al-Qaeda

US: Intelligence officers warned that an al-Qaeda member in US custody at Guantánamo Bay was probably lying about the organisation…

US: Intelligence officers warned that an al-Qaeda member in US custody at Guantánamo Bay was probably lying about the organisation's links with Iraq months before President Bush used his statements to make the case for war, writes Denis Staunton in Washington

The Defence Intelligence Agency reported in February 2002 that it was probable that Ibn al-Shayk al-Libi "was intentionally misleading the debriefers" when he said that Iraq trained al-Qaeda members to use chemical and biological weapons.

Declassified extracts from the report have been sent to members of the US senate armed services committee and were published in yesterday's New York Times.

The agency, which is part of the Department of Defence and whose reports are circulated to the CIA, the White House and the Pentagon, noted that Mr al-Libi gave no specific details of the Iraqis involved, the weapons used or where the training took place.

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"It is possible he does not know any further details; it is more likely this individual is intentionally misleading the debriefers. Ibn al-Shayk has been undergoing debriefs for several weeks and may be describing scenarios to the debriefers that he knows will retain their interest," the report said.

The Bush administration has never been able to substantiate claims that Iraq collaborated with al-Qaeda and the agency report said such co-operation was unlikely. "Saddam's regime is intensely secular and is wary of Islamic revolutionary movements. Moreover, Baghdad is unlikely to provide assistance to a group it cannot control," it said.

Months later Mr Bush, vice-president Dick Cheney and former secretary of state Colin Powell used Mr al-Libi's statements as evidence of a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. In October 2002 Mr Bush said: "We've learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and gases."

Mr Powell drew on Mr al-Libi's evidence when he made the case for war before the United Nations Security Council in February 2003, referring to "the story of a senior terrorist operative telling how Iraq provided training in these weapons for al-Qaeda".

An unclassified CIA statement at the time described Mr al-Libi's statements as credible but Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat on the senate committee, told the New York Times he had learned that a classified CIA assessment written at the same time said: "The source was not in a position to know if any training had taken place."

The senate intelligence committee will meet next week to discuss progress on a long-awaited report into claims that the administration exaggerated, distorted or misused intelligence to make the case for the war in Iraq.

Mr Bush has ordered all White House staff to attend a seminar on ethics following last month's indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, for lying under oath about the leaking of a CIA agent's identity.

An opinion poll last week showed that 60 per cent of Americans have doubts about the president's honesty and most believe the administration deliberately misled the public to make the case for invading Iraq.

Senators from both parties yesterday expressed concern about a report that the FBI has used the anti-terrorist Patriot Act to examine the telephone, internet and billing records of tens of thousands of Americans who are not suspected of any involvement in terrorism.

The Washington Post reported that the FBI is issuing 30,000 "national security letters" each year, ordering businesses to hand over customer information that would otherwise be protected by privacy laws.

The FBI does not need the permission of a judge or grand jury to issue the orders, and recipients of a national security letter are not allowed to disclose its existence to anyone.

The letters can demand lists of telephone calls, with the identities and addresses of those who made them, lists of websites visited and the date, time, sender and recipients of all e-mails, although it is not allowed to read the e-mails.

The letters can also demand information about an individual's bank deposits and withdrawals, purchases from businesses, employment history and consumer credit records.

Senator Edward Kennedy said that all information gathered on citizens that is not used in an investigation should be destroyed and Republican senator Tom Coburn said the Patriot Act should be given a limited lifespan.

"I think we need to be very careful with the Patriot Act. We should not ever give up freedom on the basis of fear, and any freedom that we give up should be limited in time and limited in scope.

"And so, therefore, I believe the Patriot Act across all levels should be sunsetted, just as I believe every other law we passed in terms of giving the government new powers or new programmes should be sunsetted so that we come back and have to make a decision about it," Dr Coburn said.