

Thu 30 Jan 2003 printer friendly email article Expert rules out link between Iraq and al-Qaeda



JASON BEATTIE CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT



ONE of Europes leading terrorism experts has ruled out any link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Ladens al-Qaeda - directly contradicting the latest claims from Tony Blair and George Bush.



Rohan Gunaratna, who is attached to the terrorism unit at St Andrews University, said his research - which includes six books - shows the two are mutually incompatible.



His warning came as the Prime Minister surprised MPs by saying he has evidence linking Iraq to al-Qaeda - something noticeably absent from his previous dossier on Saddam.



Mr Gunaratna said Saddam and al-Qaeda might be linked by their hostility to the US, but are fundamentally at odds with each other.



"Al-Qaeda hates the Iraqi government for the way it treated the Kurds in northern Iraq after the Gulf War. There is no reason why it should be any different now," he said.



"Iraq has been involved with Palestinian groups such as Hamas, but not with al-Qaeda," he added.



In an attempt to increase the tally of evidence against Saddam ahead of his meeting with Mr Bush at Camp David tomorrow, Mr Blair made his strongest assertion so far about the connections between the Iraqi leader and al-Qaeda.



"We do know of links between al-Qaeda and Iraq. We cannot be sure of the exact extent of those links," he told MPs yesterday.



Downing Street went further, accusing Saddam of providing "shelter" to al-Qaeda, while the Foreign Office asserted bin Ladens operatives had been in Iraq with the "knowledge and acquiescence" of the Baghdad government.



The Prime Minister also defied critics of his warmongering stance by indicating that North Korea, another country grouped in the so-called axis of evil, would be the next target of British and US action to enforce international law.