United Nations chief arms investigator Dr Hans Blix has claimed US officials sought to discredit his weapons inspectors in the period ahead of the outbreak of war against Iraq.
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Dr Hans Blix: accuses US and Britain of relying on shaky intelligence
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Dr Blix also argued that the United States and Britain had relied on "shaky" intelligence when building the case for military action.
Dr Blix, who will today address the UN Security Council in New York in a closed session, made his comments in an interview for a BBC2 programme The Road to War, the Inside Storyto be broadcast next Saturday.
Dr Blix, who faces US opposition to his ambitions to return to Iraq to complete his work, said the US had deliberately leaked stories about an Iraqi military drone and cluster bombs.
He said: "At that time the US was very eager to sway the votes of the Security Council and they felt that stories about these things would be useful to have and they let it out.
"Thereby they tried to hurt us a bit and say that we had suppressed this. It was not the case and it was a bit unfair and hurt us, and I felt a little displeased about it. "But you know this is a rough and tough game, and I don't think that we really felt desolate about it".
Dr Blix continued: "I think it has been one of the disturbing elements that so much of the intelligence on which the capitals built their case seems to have been shaky and there are some flagrant cases".
PA