Saddam accused of stepping up nuclear weapons programme

America's vice-president said yesterday that Saddam Hussein had "actively and aggressively" stepped up efforts to obtain nuclear weapons materials in the past year.

On one occasion, the United States intercepted an Iraqi-bound shipment of thousands of aluminium tubes designed to aid the production of enriched uranium.

Dick Cheney said this recent upsurge in efforts to obtain a nuclear device was a key factor in Washington's conviction that "regime change" in Iraq was vital. Mr Cheney's accusations were dismissed by senior Iraqi politicians and the former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who addressed the Iraqi parliament yesterday .

Mr Cheney, considered one of the most hardline figures within the Bush administration, said European nations critical of America did not have access to the same intelligence information that he had seen.

"Look at the way [President Saddam] has sought to obtain chemical, biological and nuclear weapons over the years and the fact that he has been prepared to use them ..." he said. "We find ourselves on the one hand with a demonstrated greater vulnerability – September 11 – and on the other hand with the very clear evidence that this is a man who is resuming all those programmes that the UN Security Council tried to get him to forgo some 10 or 11 years ago. And increasingly we believe the United States will become the target of those activities. We know we have a part of the picture and that part of the picture tells us that he is in fact actively and aggressively seeking to acquire nuclear weapons."

Mr Cheney – one of several senior administration figures who appeared on national television yesterday to argue the case against Iraq – confirmed a report that America had intercepted a shipment of alumin-ium tubes bound for Baghdad. It was reported that American intelligence experts believed the tubes were designed to be used in centrifuges to produce enriched uranium – one of the essential ingredients of a nuclear weapon.

The New York Times said that in addition to the shipment, President Saddam has met Iraqi nuclear scientists repeatedly in recent months to discuss their work.

Despite the allegations, both Mr Cheney and the intelligence sources quoted in the newspaper did not say the Iraqi leader had developed a nuclear device. Indeed, the intelligence sources said they believed he was some way away from developing such a weapon.

In Baghdad, Iraq's Vice-President, Taha Yassin Ramadan, denied Mr Cheney's allegations, saying that Britain and America were looking for an excuse to launch an attack. He said: "They are telling lies and lies to make others believe them."

His comments were supported by Mr Ritter. He said an attack by Washington would be wrong but urged Iraq to allow United Nations inspectors back into the country to prove that it was not trying to develop a nuclear weapon. Inspectors were forced out by Iraq in 1998.

Mr Ritter, a member of the UN inspections team for seven years, said: "My country seems to be on the verge of making a historical mistake.

"The rhetoric of fear that is disseminated by my government, has not, to date, been backed by hard facts that substantiate any allegations that Iraq is today in possession of weapons of mass destruction or has links to terror groups responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

"The only path towards peace that will be embraced by the international community is one which begins by Iraq agreeing to the immediate, unconditional return of UN weapons inspections operating in full keeping with the mandate as set forth by existing UN Security Council resolutions."