Sydney, Sept 17: Former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix today said Iraq had probably got rid of its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) 10 years ago but Saddam Hussein pretended otherwise to deter any attack. "I'm certainly more and more to the conclusion that Iraq has, as they maintained, destroyed all almost of what they had in the summer of 1993," Blix told Australian national radio.
Asked if it was likely Iraq has not had weapons of mass destruction for at least 10 years, he said: "Yup, that's right."
Blix's suggestions, which he said were already known in the United States, called into question controversial intelligence used by Britain and the United States to justify the conflict in Iraq.
"You see, if they didn't have anything (WMD) after '91, there must be some explanation why they behaved as they did. They certainly gave the impression that they were denying access and so forth," Blix said.
"I mean, you can put up a sign on your door, beware of the dog, without having a dog."
The US-controlled Iraq survey group has been scouring Iraq for evidence of weapons, but its hundreds of scientists have found very little. Bureau Report