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Saddam denies 'relationship' with al QaedaPowell preparing to make U.S. case to Security Council
LONDON, England (CNN) -- While U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell prepared his case against Iraq on Tuesday, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein offered his defense to British television viewers. Saddam said his government does not have any weapons of mass destruction or ties to the al Qaeda terrorist network. "If we had a relationship with al Qaeda and if we believed in this relationship, we won't be ashamed to admit it," Saddam said in an interview broadcast on Britain's Channel 4. "The answer is no, we do not have any relationship with al Qaeda." Powell responded to Saddam's claims with only two words: "Prove it." Powell is preparing for a presentation Wednesday morning to the U.N. Security Council in which he will provide evidence that the United States says will show Iraq is not complying with Security Council Resolution 1441, which calls on Iraq to disarm itself of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons. (Full story) On Tuesday, Powell held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers and Security Council diplomats to reiterate U.S. claims that Iraq is not complying with the resolution. Powell's presentation will detail travels of al Qaeda operatives in Iraq and some contacts with Iraqis but will not suggest a formal alliance between the two, administration officials told CNN. The overwhelming focus will be on how Iraq has not accounted for its weapons stockpiles and efforts to prove what the White House believes is Iraqi deception during the current U.N. inspections. In his televised interview, Saddam accused the Bush administration of plotting world domination with attempts to control the Middle Eastern oil fields. He warned that a U.S. invasion of Iraq "would lead to widespread enmity and resistance." (Full story) "Isn't it reasonable to question this approach and conclude that this road will not benefit anyone, including America or its people?" he said. Meanwhile, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said he and the chief of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, have specific expectations for their weekend visit to Iraq -- primarily Iraqi cooperation. The inspectors have "made it absolutely clear" that the principal task to be accomplished in this third visit to Baghdad will be "how can Iraq assure us and the Security Council that it will actively seek and present any items or programs which are proscribed, or else if they are not there, to seek and present credible evidence for their absence," Blix said in a briefing Tuesday for the U.N. Correspondents Association. "I am pleading to the Iraqis to cooperate on substance," he said. "They do not have the same determination on substance as they do on process." Other developments:• U.N. inspectors said they found an empty chemical warhead at an ammunition depot north of Baghdad. The warhead is the same type as the 12 empty warheads discovered last month by inspectors at a different facility • The U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission has determined that 13 out of 40 recent tests of Iraq's Al-Samoud missile went beyond the permitted range of 150 km [93 miles]. A panel of international experts will meet early next week at the United Nations in New York to determine whether Iraq is developing missiles that violate U.N. restrictions • French President Jacques Chirac said he is "completely confident" in U.N. weapons inspectors and that war with Iraq remains "the worst of all solutions." The comments followed a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "There's much to do with regard to disarmament by peaceful means," Chirac said
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