US President George W Bush has insisted banned weapons will be found in Iraq but complained that Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's closest deputies, is not co-operating with US interrogators.
Mr Bush said last night the former deputy prime minister, the most visible face of the former Iraqi government other than Saddam's, "still doesn't know how to tell the truth".
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One of the playing cards issued by the US featuring wanted Iraqi officials, in this case Tariq Aziz
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The President, at a news conference on his ranch with visiting Australian Prime Minister Mr John Howard, predicted that the US will locate the suspected cache of biological and chemical weapons.
"Iraq's the size of the state of California," he said. "It's got tunnels, caves, all kinds of complexes. We'll find them, and it's just going to be a matter of time to do so."
Aziz surrendered to US forces on April 24th, after the collapse of Baghdad. US officials had hoped that Aziz, who made Saddam's case before the world when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, could provide information about the deposed president's whereabouts and Iraq's weapons. But Mr Bush said Aziz was not co-operating.
"We're learning, for example, that Tariq Aziz still doesn't know how to tell the truth," Mr Bush said. "He didn't know how to tell the truth when he was in office he doesn't know how to tell the truth as a captive."
With a growing number of Iraqi leaders in custody, US intelligence agents are able to check one's claims against others, officials said. They said the US has a growing body of documents that help verify responses from Aziz and other captured leaders.
Mr Bush expressed confidence that the US will learn what it needs from lower-ranking officials and ordinary citizens.
Referring to the deck of cards of 55 wanted Iraqis, he said: "It may not be the aces, kings, queens and jacks that do the talking. It may be those who are carrying the water for the aces, kings, queens and jacks that do the talking."
AP