Powell defends intelligence on Iraq

Updated: 22:09, Monday, 2 June 2003

The US Secretary of State has defended the US intelligence that he presented to the UN Security Council last February to justify the war against Iraq.

US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has defended the US intelligence that he presented to the UN Security Council last February to justify the war against Iraq.

The United States has failed so far to find any weapons of mass destruction in the country.

Speaking in Rome, en route to Egypt, Mr Powell said he thought the evidence that Iraq had developed such weapons was 'overwhelming'.

The US failure to find Iraqi biological or chemical weapons has triggered suggestions from former US officials that intelligence reports were rewritten to promote the case for war.

The Bush administration has denied this.

Blair dismisses suggestions on Iraq

Earlier, the British Prime Minister dismissed as completely untrue suggestions that he and US President George W Bush secretly agreed on an invasion of Iraq as early as last autumn.

Tony Blair also said the idea that the British Government doctored intelligence reports was completely false.

Mr Blair was speaking during a news conference at the G8 summit in Evian, France.

Live Player

  • Next
  • 11:00 - 13:05

    Sinn Fein Ard Fheis

  • 13:05 - 13:15

    RTÉ News and Weather

  • Later
  • 16:00 - 16:10

    Nuacht RTÉ

  • 17:20 - 18:00

    Sinn Fein Ard Fheis: The Leader's Speech