Relations between British and American intelligence agencies, a central pivot of "the special relationship," are in disarray over disputed claims about Iraq's attempts to procure weapons of mass destruction.
In a dispute with serious political repercussions for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush, the CIA and MI6 have made it clear that they do not believe each other's intelligence, notably about a claim that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from the west African state of Niger for nuclear weapons.
PHOTO: AP
While George Tenet, the CIA's director, is expressing doubts about the claim, MI6 is adamant it is accurate.
Documents claiming that Iraq was seeking uranium from Niger have turned out to be forgeries. But British intelligence sources said yesterday that MI6 had separate information to back the claim. MI6 was provided the information by a third party which insisted that neither the source nor the intelligence could be passed on.
"Certain protocols have to be observed," an intelligence official said yesterday. He added that if Britain failed to respect such protocols, sources would refuse to provide MI6 with intelligence again.
UK government officials suggested on Sunday that the claims came from a "close ally" but one which did not want Britain to give it to the US as a further pretext for war. It is extremely rare for Britain not to pass on intelligence to the US, even more so when it refers to a common enemy, in this case, Iraq.
In the past, the CIA's station chief in London has had close links with Whitehall's joint intelligence committee, the body which compiled the government's controversial September dossier.
In a further indication of Whitehall distancing itself from Washington, a British official said yesterday that even if the CIA had been provided with all the information available to British intelligence, "it may not have come to the same conclusion as us."
Britain's intelligence and security agencies are angry about America's treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, not least because of unfavorable impact on the Arab world and Muslim opinion in Britain. They were also angered by persistent and unfounded attempts by the US to link al-Qaeda to Saddam Hussein. Officials are also dismayed by the way in which the dispute over Iraq's banned weapons has put them and the government in the spotlight.
They are even more alarmed about how the CIA is fuelling the unwelcome debate. "It is a mystery," a well-placed source said yesterday.
British intelligence is sticking to its story despite UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's statement in the House of Commons last month that he was unsure the claim was correct.
"Until we investigate properly, we are simply not in a position to say whether that is so," the foreign secretary told MPs.
Under pressure from the White House, Tenet was forced at the weekend to take the blame for including the claim in the president's state of the union to Congress in January.
Bush told Congress: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Tenet said that just because the British included the claim in their September dossier did not mean that the US should take Britain's word for it.
"This did not rise to the level of certainty which should be required for presidential speeches, and the CIA should have ensured that it was removed," he said.
Piqued at Washington's attempt to use the British as an alibi, Straw has said that although the CIA expressed doubts about the claims, they were "unsupported by explanation."
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in