Former UN chief weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix has attacked the "spin and hype" behind US and British allegations on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, which were used to justify war against Saddam Hussein.
Dr Blix, who said this week he believed Iraq had destroyed its weapons of mass destruction 10 years ago, told BBC radio that Washington and London "over-interpreted" intelligence about Baghdad's weapons programmes.
Comparing them to medieval witch-hunters, he said the two countries convinced themselves on the basis of evidence which was later discredited, including forged documents about alleged attempts to buy uranium for nuclear weapons.
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"In the Middle Ages when people were convinced there were witches they certainly found them. This is a bit risky," said Dr Blix.
His inspectors left Iraq on the eve of war in March after just a few months of inspections.
Dr Blix said a pre-war British dossier on Iraqi weapons "lead the reader to the conclusions that are a little further reaching" than was the case.
"What in a way stands accused is the culture of spin, the culture of hyping...Advertisers will advertise a refrigerator in terms that we don't quite believe in, but we expect governments to be more serious and have more credibility," he said.
Allegations in the British dossier that Iraq could deploy chemical and biological weapons at 45 minutes notice have come under scrutiny at the Hutton inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly.
Before ordering the invasion that toppled Saddam, USPresident George W Bush talked of an imminent threat posed by Iraqi weapons as a prime justification for war.
British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair put Saddam's alleged weapons programme at the heart of his case for supporting the US invasion of Iraq in March.
But five months after Saddam's overthrow, no banned weapons have been found.
Dr Blix said the few "minor things" which his teams had uncovered in Iraq were more likely to have been "debris from the past" than "tips of the iceberg" of an existing weapons programme.
Asked about Dr Blix's comments, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said they came as no surprise as he had been making similar observations since thespring.
The spokesman said the most recent assessment of the intelligence on Iraq was carried out by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee which, althoughit made "one or two suggestions", had concluded that last September's Government dossier was the best assessment of the intelligence available at thetime.
The International Survey Group would deliver its "on the ground" judgment in due course, he added.