Blair waters down claim linking Iraq to Niger uranium

Tony Blair appeared yesterday to water down the Government's claim that Iraq tried to import uranium from Africa to build a nuclear bomb.

Mr Blair told the Commons that it was "not beyond the bounds of possibility" that Iraq sought to obtain uranium from Niger recently because it had imported more than 270 tons in the 1980s. And he stood by the claim in the Government's dossier last September even though the White House has distanced itself from it.

The Prime Minister's remarks were the latest example of a gradual shift in language about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Last week, he stopped short of saying that weapons would be found in Iraq, saying evidence of programmes would be unearthed.

Since the Iraq war, Mr Blair has stuck to the alleged "Niger connection" on the grounds that Britain has separate intelligence to documents dismissed as forgeries by the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA). However, he and Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, have also suggested that the claim is under review.

Lynne Jones, a Labour MP, challenged Mr Blair on whether he would still use "words of such absolute certainty" as he did last September when he said: "We know that Saddam has been trying to buy significant quantities of uranium from Africa." She told Mr Blair: "On July 3, the Government finally admitted that it had not passed to the IAEA the evidence on which you based your statement to the House that 'we know that Saddam has been trying to buy significant quantities of uranium from Africa'. Are you not concerned that the failure of the source of that intelligence to pass it on to the IAEA for scrutiny is a breach of article 10 of [UN] Security Council Resolution 1441?"

The Prime Minister replied: "I stand by entirely the claim that was made last September. The intelligence on which we based this was not the so-called forged documents that have been put to the IAEA, and the IAEA have accepted that they got no such forged documents from British intelligence ­ we have independent intelligence to that effect."

The Prime Minister continued: "We know in the 1980s that Iraq purchased from Niger over 270 tons of uranium, and therefore it is not beyond the bounds of possibility ­ let's at least put it like this ­ that they went back to Niger again. That is why I stand by entirely the statement that was made in the September dossier."

His remarks drew gasps from MPs. Tam Dalyell, the longest-serving MP, said the Government was not backing down over Niger because "a pack of cards" about its case for war would then collapse. "This was one of the main arguments that persuaded many doubting colleagues to ... endorse going to war," he said.

John Large, an independent nuclear consultant, told BBC Radio 4 that Niger only had limited quantities of uranium and that Iraq lacked the two plants needed to make a bomb. "It is quite clear that this programme never existed," he said.

Meanwhile, Downing Street continued its offensive against the BBC by suggesting that David Kelly, an MoD weapons expert, was the source of Radio 4's report that No 10 "sexed up" the dossier even though the Foreign Affairs Select Committee now believes he was not the prime source. Mr Blair said: "The BBC are in the position to know who the source is and they can say, surely, whether this man is the source or not."

Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, accused Mr Blair of becoming a "stranger to the truth" and creating "a culture of deceit and spin".

Michael Ancram, the shadow Foreign Secretary, said a series of "half truths and pathetic smokescreens" over the war had undermined public trust and confidence, and there was an "unanswerable case" for a judicial inquiry. Mr Straw rejected the demand, insisting that such a move would be a vote of no confidence in the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, which is investigating the matter.

Eight Labour left-wingers defied the whips to back the call for an inquiry, but the motion was defeated by 299 votes to 200.