Egypt denies it told US general that Saddam Hussein had WMDs
Egypt has strongly denied that President Hosni Mubarak told a top US general before the US-led war against Iraq in March 2003 that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction.
General Tommy Franks, former commander of US Central Command, was reported as saying in an intervew that Mubarak was among Arab leaders who had told him Saddam Hussein had such weapons.
"This allegation is absolutely devoid of any truth," the semi-official al-Ahram daily quoted Egyptian presidential spokesman, Maged Abdul Fatah, as saying.
Franks reportedly made the comment to the US magazine, Parade, which appeared on Sunday and roughly coincided with the release of his new book, "American Soldier".
In the interview, Franks, 59, who commanded US forces during the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and retired in July 2003, said that the biggest surprise for him was that they found no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, the "reason we went to war."
He added that multiple Middle Eastern leaders, including Jordan's King Abdullah and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, told him that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
According to an extract from the Parade interview, Mubarak in January 2003, told Franks, "Saddam has WMD -- biologicals, actually -- and he will use them on your troops."
Abbul Fatah said Mubarak never made such an assertion.
The presidential spokesman said that during a meeting with the Egyptian leader, Franks asked Mubarak's assessment of reports about the existence of WMDs in Iraq, especially biological weapons, and if Mubarak thought Iraq would use them against US soldiers in the event of a military invasion.
"Mubarak's response was clear: Egypt is following all that is being said about this issue, but it cannot confirm that Iraq possess WMDs and it does not have any information about the possibility of Iraq using these weapons, if they exist, against US forces," Abdul Fatah quoted Mubarak as telling Franks.
sg.news.yahoo.com |
