HEADLINE: SADDAM SAW AL-QAEDA AS THREAT [View All]

[Bluebear]

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein regarded al-Qaida as a threat rather than a possible ally, a Senate report says, contradicting assertions President Bush has used to build support for the war in Iraq. The report also newly faults intelligence gathering in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion.

Released Friday, the report discloses for the first time an October 2005 CIA assessment that prior to the war Saddam's government "did not have a relationship, harbor or turn a blind eye toward" al-Qaida operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or his associates.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060908/ap_on_go_co/iraq_report;_ylt=ApqWi_Upr2lxpn0gG6_lfQWs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--