U.S. and British intelligence agencies did not fully share information with each other on claims that Iraq attempted to obtain uranium from Africa, resulting in differing conclusions, British officials said yesterday (see related GSN story, today).

British officials said the CIA had attempted last year to persuade the British government to drop the African uranium claim from a September report on Iraq’s WMD programs.  In a letter to a parliamentary committee conducting an inquiry into the United Kingdom’s decision to go to war with Iraq, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the CIA request was denied because of “reliable intelligence which we had not shared with the U.S.” and because the CIA had made the request “unsupported by explanation.”

While British officials will not provide further detail about the additional evidence they say supports the Africa uranium claim, they have said they have multiple sources, including at least one foreign intelligence agency, that said its information could not be shared with other countries, according to the Washington Post.

Straw also said the CIA did not inform British officials about a visit to Niger by Joseph Wilson, a former U.S ambassador to Gabon, who found there was no evidence to support a claim that Iraq had sought to purchase uranium there.

“I want to make clear that neither I nor, to the best of my knowledge, any U.K. officials were aware of Ambassador Wilson’s visit until reference first appeared in the press” last month, Straw said in his letter.  “In response to our questions, the U.S. authorities have confirmed that Ambassador Wilson’s report was not shared with the U.K.,” he said.

British officials have said they have now seen a summary of Wilson’s report on his visit to Niger, adding that they view it as inconclusive.

“We can see why it wasn’t passed on to us because it doesn’t point in one direction,” an official said, adding that the summary confirmed that an Iraqi trade delegation had visited Niger in 1999, but no trade agreements were reached.  “Uranium is Niger’s top export; it’s unlikely the Iraqis were looking for livestock, which is their second export,” the official said (Glenn Frankel, Washington Post, July 17).

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency has criticized the United Kingdom for failing to hand over its additional evidence supporting claims that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium from Africa.

“Despite requests, the British government has provided no such evidence,” said a Western diplomat close to the IAEA.  “Senior officials at the agency think it is involved in an information blackout,” the diplomat said (Andrew Buncombe, London Independent, July 17).

British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday defended the claim that Iraq had sought to obtain uranium from Niger, saying the British intelligence justifying the claim was not based on documents later found to be forgeries by the IAEA.

“It may just be worth pointing out to the House and also to the public, it’s not as if this link between Niger and Iraq was some invention of the CIA or Britain.  We know (that) in the 1980s that Iraq purchased from Niger over 270 tons of uranium, and therefore it is not beyond the bounds of possibility,” Blair said before the House of Commons.  “Let’s at least put it like this, that they went back to Niger again,” he said (Xinhua News Agency, July 17).

Blair is scheduled to arrive in the United States today to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush and make a rare address before a joint session of Congress.

While Blair is not expected to discuss the intelligence-handling controversy in his address to Congress, it is expected to have an effect on his meeting with Bush, the Boston Globe reported.

The issue “is going to overshadow this meeting, and it’s going to be a much tenser meeting than previous summits,” said Nile Gardiner, a foreign policy adviser to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  “This is going to be a much more combative meeting than previous ones between Blair and Bush,” Gardiner said (Anne Kornblut, Boston Globe, July 17).

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

HOME  |  CONTACT US  |  GET INVOLVED  |  SITE MAP

Back to top