The US is stepping up its efforts in the propaganda war against Iraq by revealing some of the evidence it claims to have against Saddam Hussein. US officials say they have proof that Mohammed Atta, the man believed to have led the September 11th attacks, visited Saddam. They also say Iraq is stepping upo efforts to build a nuclear bomb.
In Washington, US intelligence officials claim Iraq has been intensifying its bid for nuclear weapons with a global search for materials to make a nuclear bomb.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that in the past 14 months, Iraq had attempted to purchase thousands of special aluminum tubes they believe were to be used as components of centrifuges to enrich uranium.
They also said Saddam in recent months had met several times with Iraq's top nuclear scientists and hailed their work as part of an anti-Western campaign.
The officials said the evidence made clear the need to deal with Saddam, who has denied seeking nuclear weapons.
They confirmed a story on The New York TimesWeb site laying out Iraq's recent efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
'Saddam has been engaging in what appears to be an aggressive effort to obtain material which could be used in a nuclear weapons program,' said a US intelligence official.
Meanwhile, the man regarded as the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks on the US consulted Saddam Hussein prior to the strike, according to Mr Richard Perle, an advisor to the US defence secretary.
"Mohammed Atta met Saddam Hussein in Baghdad prior to September 11. We have proof of that, and we are sure he wasn't just there for a holiday," Mr Perle told Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
"The meeting is one of the motives for an American attack on Iraq," added Mr Perle, who is chairman of the Defence Policy Board and consultant to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a leading advocate of an attack on Iraq.
The disclosures came as President George W Bush attempts to build a case for ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on grounds he is developing weapons of mass destruction.
AFP &