US officials say Iraq weapons declaration is full of holes
The Bush administration has tentatively concluded that Iraq's 12,000-page weapons declaration fails to explain what happened to chemical and biological agents missing when inspectors were expelled from Iraq four years ago.
As expected, Iraq used the lengthy document to support its contention - disputed by the US - that Saddam Hussein's regime possesses no weapons of mass destruction, officials said.
White House officials have refused to comment on the assessment, first reported by The New York Times, but Mr Bush told ABC News his gut feeling about Saddam Hussein is that "he is a man who deceives, denies".
Under the terms of UN Resolution 1441, false statements or omissions in the declaration - coupled with a failure to comply with inspections - would be a "material breach" of Iraq's obligations.
Newly-admitted weapons inspectors have not publicly accused Iraq of failing to comply.
But US officials say the declaration is full of holes, saying it does not explain a number of Iraqi acquisitions that the US suspects are related to Saddam's nuclear programme.
These include the purchase of uranium in Africa and high-tech equipment that could be used in uranium enrichment in Western countries.
The report largely rehashes old Iraqi declarations and contains little new information, officials said. It has done nothing to alter their assessment that Iraq possesses chemical and biological weapons and is pursuing nuclear weapons.
The United States and Russia have turned in their preliminary assessments to chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and ElBaradei Mohamed of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Britain, France and China are supposed to provide their assessments as well and Blix and ElBaradei then will remove sensitive sections of the declaration and distribute copies to the 10 other members of the Council.
