British and American spies are already on the ground in Iraq planning to topple the country’s leader Saddam Hussein’s, it has been reported.
A report in London's Daily Telegraphsuggests the spies are collaborating with opposition groups and possible traitors inside Saddam's inner circle.
Meanwhile, Iraqi army officers and opponents of Saddam Hussein have gathered in London to consider toppling the Iraqi leader, after US President Mr George W Bush said on Monday the US would use "all tools" at its disposal to remove him.
The meeting of the Iraqi National Coalition (INC) - which has so far received €15.2 million from the US - will be attended by British and American "observers".
But there is dispute over how representative the exiled opposition factions are, and, arguably more importantly from Washington's point of view, how much support they could muster inside Iraq.
The meeting is taking place in Kensington town hall, in the heart of one of London's most exclusive areas.
The INC’s Mr Albert Yelda said all Iraqi opposition movements, large or small, had been invited to debate how to overthrow the existing regime as well as Iraq's future and the role of the army post-Saddam.
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has said that while today’s meeting conference was not being supported financially by Washington, "we support the idea of a broad-based military conference."
AFP