Canberra (Australia), June 18: British Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon today rejected allegations by former ministers back home that intelligence information on Weapons of Mass Destruction had been doctored to justify Britain's case for war against Iraq. Speaking to reporters at Australia's National Press Club, Hoon said there was consistent intelligence information justifying London's concern that Iraq had weapons which posed an international threat, and he was confident those weapons would be found.
"I simply don't accept that the intelligence material was used inappropriately or indeed we could have pursued any other strategy in trying to deal with those threats," Hoon said.
Former British House of Commons leader Robin Cook and former international development secretary Clare Short have both told a parliamentary inquiry in London that they believed intelligence information had been tampered with to justify invading Iraq.
Cook and Short both quit the cabinet in opposition to Blair's pro-war stance.
US and other coalition teams searching Iraq for Weapons of Mass Destruction have so far failed to find any.
"We are now putting an enormous amount of effort into tracking down those weapons, and I'm confident that we will find them. But it will take time," Hoon said.
Hoon also said the coalition believed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was still in Iraq and would eventually be found. Bureau Report