C.I.A. 'helped draw up Iraq war dossier for Britain'

London, Sept 7 (PTI) The C.I.A. is claimed to have helped in drawing up the Iraq dossier for Britain which made the case for the Second Gulf War in that oil-rich nation.

The document contained some "false" claims, including warnings that Saddam Hussein could launch the weapons of mass destruction within "45 minutes" and that it was "beyond doubt" that the former Iraqi dictator was developing nuclear weapons.

Now, six years after the document was made public, it has emerged that British intelligence agency MI6's chief John
Scarlett actually sought foreign help -- which sources claimed
came from the C.I.A. -- to give final touches to the dossier,
the 'Daily Mail' reported.

In fact, the disclosure that Scarlett showed the draft to
a foreign power and asked for its input, is contained in the
British government's arguments about why it cant reveal
further details of the discussions that led to the erroneous
contents of the final document.

On September 16, 2002, a week before the dossier was made
public, Scarlett sent members of the Joint Intelligence
Committee, which includes the heads of MI5, MI6 and the
G.C.H.Q. spy centre, a draft copy of the report.

In an accompanying note he wrote: "The text is still
subject to further revision depending on your comments..." But
the rest of this key sentence was blacked out by government
censors when it was about to be made public by the Hutton
Inquiry, the judicial probe into the affair.

Now, the British government has told the Information
Commissioner Richard Thomas that the sentence's second half
can't be revealed because it would damage Britain's relations
with a foreign state, making its disclosure exempt under the
Freedom of Information Act. PTI MOT