There is evidence al-Qaeda “operatives” are being sheltered in Iraq, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman has said. It is the first time that the British Government has explicitly linked al-Qaeda and the Iraqi regime, which flatly denied the claim. Last week the prime minister said that there were some links between al-Qaeda and people in Iraq, but stressed that there was no evidence of a link between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi regime. But on Wednesday his spokesman said there was evidence al-Qaeda operatives were sheltering in Iraq, adding that the nature of the regime meant they could not do so unless Saddam Hussein was willing to have them. Later, when pressed in the House of Commons Mr Blair did not go as far as his spokesman, but said: “We do know of links between al-Qaeda and Iraq – we cannot be sure of the exact extent of those links.” Full Story
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