Drafts of a report from the top US inspector in Iraq conclude there were no weapons of mass destruction stockpiles, but say there were signs that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had dormant programs he hoped to revive at a later time, according to people familiar with the findings.
In a 1,500-page report, the head of the Iraq Survey Group, Charles Duelfer, will find Saddam was importing banned materials, working on unmanned aerial vehicles in violation of UN agreements and maintaining a dual-use industrial sector that could produce weapons.
Duelfer also says Iraq only had small research and development programs for chemical and biological weapons.
As Duelfer puts the finishing touches on his report, he concludes Saddam had intentions of restarting weapons programs at some point, after suspicion and inspections from the international community waned.
After a year and a half in Iraq, however, the US has found no weapons of mass destruction -- its chief argument for overthrowing the regime.
An intelligence official said Duelfer could wrap up the report as soon as this month, but noted it may take time to declassify it.
If the report is released publicly before the Nov. 2 election, Democrats are likely to seize on the document as another opportunity to criticize the Bush administration's leading argument for war in Iraq and the deteriorating security situation.
Duelfer's report is expected to be similar to findings reported by his predecessor, David Kay, who pre-sented an interim report to Con-gress last October. Kay left the post in January, saying, "We were almost all wrong" about Saddam's weapons programs.
The new analysis, however, is expected to fall between the Bush administration position before the war -- portraying Saddam as a grave threat -- and statements Kay made after he resigned.
The Iraq Survey Group has been working since last summer to find Saddam's weapons and better understand his prohibited programs.
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