IRAQ: Iraq said yesterday the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, was a liar.
"Britain and America lied to the world when they said Iraq had produced weapons of mass destruction after the withdrawal of inspectors," the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr Naji Sabri, said, referring to UN experts who left Iraq before 1998 US-British air raids.
"So they found themselves in trouble after Iraq agreed to let the inspectors back and to deal with the bad (UN Security Council) Resolution 1441," he told Iraq's official news agency.
Resolution 1441 committed Iraq to allow UN inspectors into the country and co-operate with their search for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
It also demanded Baghdad make a declaration of all weapons of mass destruction and any efforts to make them. Iraq revealed its declaration earlier this month.
Mr Sabri said US and British officials had kept on lying even after UN inspectors had searched sites where they had alleged that Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction.
"Instead of admitting the truth, or at least keeping silent, the American and British officials started to behave according to the saying 'lie, lie until people believe you', and so they go on lying," he said.
"The British prime minister knows that Iraqi officials, and first and foremost President Saddam Hussein, do not lie," Mr Sabri said.
"American and British officials, together with the Zionists (Israelis), harbour animosity against Iraqi officials because the Iraqis are faithful to their principles and policies."
In a separate reaction, an adviser to President Saddam said Iraq was not worried by accusations that its weapons declaration to the United Nations contained little new.
"It seems they (the United States and Britain) are more worried than we are about this assessment," presidential adviser Mr Amir al-Saadi told a news conference in Baghdad.
"We are not worried. It's the other side that is worried because there is nothing they can pin on us.
"We don't expect Blix . . . to say there is anything new," Mr al-Saadi added.
He said Iraq had nothing to add to previous information it had given on past programmes.