From ABC News, 7/14/2003 - By Brian Ross :

The origins of the questionable intelligence on Iraqi weapons.

An African diplomat sold Italian intelligence the forged documents
shown here, claiming Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger, sources
say. (ABCNEWS.com) (video)

Intelligence Scam
Flawed Uranium Intelligence Came From Forged Documents Sold to
Italians

The most sophisticated intelligence operation in the world was fooled
by a low-level diplomat from Africa, intelligence sources told
ABCNEWS.

For nearly a week, the Bush administration has been trying to explain
how it came to pass that President Bush, in his State of the Union
speech, erroneously claimed that Saddam Hussein was trying to get
uranium in Africa.

The president said today the main thrust of his case for the Iraq war
is, and was, accurate.

"The speeches I have given were backed by good intelligence," he said.

"And I am absolutely convinced today, like I was convinced when I gave
the speeches, that Saddam Hussein developed a program of weapons of
mass destruction."

President Bush's claim about Saddam Hussein's seeking uranium from
Africa was just one part of his case for war, albeit a very important
one.

However, the intelligence debacle grew out of a scam when an underpaid
African diplomat who was stationed in Rome created bogus documents,
which he then sold to the Italian secret service, sources said.

The Italians officially deny the sale, but intelligence sources told
ABCNEWS the fake documents were produced in late 2001 in Rome, in a
building that houses the tiny embassy of Niger.

The diplomat, who now has been recalled to Niger, sold the forged
documents to the military branch of the Italian secret service for
what sources say was a few thousand dollars.

"There had been reports circulating about Niger's sale of uranium to
Iraq in the l980s and I think this diplomat apparently saw an
opportunity to make some money by feeding into the current controversy
about Iraq's program of weapons of mass destruction," said
counterterrorism expert Vince Cannistraro, an ABCNEWS consultant.

The Proof They Needed

And it worked.

The information was turned over first to Britain and then the United
States, just as both countries were searching for proof Saddam was
close to producing nuclear weapons.

"The Italians, as a NATO ally, thought they had some valuable
information that played into current NATO requirements as well as U.S.
and U.K. requirements about Iraq and Saddam Hussein, and they passed
it on," said Cannistraro.

Because Niger's uranium is fully controlled by international
companies, the claim that Niger was selling 500 pounds of "yellowcake"
uranium made no sense to U.S. intelligence analysts.

And as is now well known, the documents themselves were printed with
obsolete Iraqi and Niger letterheads and were soon spotted as
forgeries by the International Atomic Energy Agency and made public
when the agency's chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, testified before the U.N.
Security Council on March 8.

"It was not really very difficult for us to come to the quick
conclusion that these documents were forgeries," he said.

Vice President Played Key Role

Not only was Vice President Dick Cheney seated directly behind
President Bush when he cited the flawed information in his State of
the Union address, but Cheney played a key and personal role in
pushing CIA analysts to confirm the Niger story, intelligence sources
told ABCNEWS.

"The vice president and his chief of staff, Lewis Libby, took a
personal interest in this matter and discussed at CIA with analysts,"
said Cannistraro.

Cheney made at least two trips to meet with intelligence analysts in
the time leading up to the war, although the CIA says the Niger issue
itself was never on the agenda.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/U...0714_docs.html

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From Reuters, 7/15/2003 - By Luke Baker :

Italy Intelligence Probed Over Iraq Nuclear Report

ROME (Reuters) - Italian magistrates opened a probe Tuesday to find out
whether Italy's
intelligence service supplied the United States and Britain with
information that Iraq tried to acquire uranium in Africa, judicial
sources said.

President Bush used the information as part of his case for going to
war against Iraq, but the White House said last week the claim was
based on forged documents.

Britain has stuck by its claim, saying it was based on solid evidence.

Judicial sources said Rome investigators had opened a file into
Italian intelligence's alleged role in the case, even though at this
point they saw no evidence of wrong-doing.

In Italy, if someone makes an allegation of any kind an investigation
must be opened.

It was not immediately clear who asked the magistrates to investigate
the uranium affair or who they would seek to talk to.

U.S. and British officials have been quoted as saying that the phony
documents, claiming that Iraq tried to get nuclear grade uranium from
the central African state of Niger, were first obtained by Italian
intelligence agents in late 2001.

But the Italian government Sunday denied its secret services had
anything to do with the documents.

"Reports...concerning the passing by Italy of documents from Niger or
Iraq, recounting evidence relating to the transfer of uranium from
Niger to Iraq, are without any basis in fact," a terse note from the
prime minister's office read.

In March, even before the war in Iraq got underway,

The Los Angeles Times quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying Italy
had provided the documents and may even have paid for them, although
there was no suggestion that Italy had them forged.

Last month, Britain's Independent newspaper, again citing unnamed
sources, said Italian authorities acquired the documents from a
diplomat working at the Niger embassy in Rome.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Monday that its information
concerning Iraq's uranium plans originated from a third country but
insisted that the evidence was not based on any forged or phony
documents.

Asked about the opening of the probe Tuesday, Italian Foreign Minister
Franco Frattini had no comment.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reu...30715_345.html