US President George W. Bush said today he had confidence in CIA Director George Tenet and considered a controversy about false US claims that Iraq tried to buy African uranium to be closed.
Mr Tenet, appointed as head of the Central Intelligence Agency by former US President Bill Clinton, took responsibility yesterday for the false claim by Mr Bush over Iraq's nuclear ambitions, which raised embarrassing questions about the way he made the case for war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
"I've got confidence in George Tenet. I've got confidence in the men and women who work at the CIA and I...look forward to working with them as we win this war on terror," Mr Bush said in Abuja during a visit to Nigeria.
Asked whether he considered the controversy over, he said: "I do."
Mr Bush, seeking to win backing for the invasion of Iraq that US-led forces launched in March, cited the uranium deal in his State of the Union address in January, calling it evidence that Saddam was trying to develop nuclear weapons.
The White House acknowledged this week the accusation should not have been in the speech because the documents it was based on proved to be forged.
Last night in Washington, Mr Tenet issued a statement saying: "The president had every reason to believe that the text presented to him was sound."
Mr Tenet said the reference to an Iraqi attempt to buy African uranium, quoting British intelligence, "should never have been included in the text."
"I am responsible for the approval process in my agency," Mr Tenet said in the statement marking the latest twist in the controversy over an alleged Iraq-Niger uranium deal that has embroiled both the US and British governments.