WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government will release a report saying Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction or concrete plans to make them, reports said, but President George W. Bush remained unrepentant over the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Charles Duelfer, the chief US weapons inspector in Iraq, has produced a 1,000-page report which says Saddam, who was ousted after a US-led invasion, had the desire but not the means to produce biological, chemical and nuclear arms, The Washington Post reported, quoting US officials.
The report, to be released about 1830 GMT, would be a new blow to US administration efforts to justify the invasion, which has been made into a central theme of the presidential election race by Democratic contender John Kerry.
The report into the September 11, 2001 attacks has already concluded that Iraq had no part in the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said this week he had seen no "strong, hard evidence" linking Saddam to Al-Qaeda.
The Post quoted officials as saying that Duelfer, a former UN weapons inspector, found that the state of Iraq`s weapons programmes in 2003 was less advanced than in 1998, when international inspectors left Iraq.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan acknowledged on Tuesday that the United States had not found the weapons stockpiles it expected in Iraq.
But he added: "The report will, from my understanding, talk about that Saddam Hussein had the intent and capability, that he was pursuing an aggressive strategy to bring down the sanctions ... imposed by the United Nations through illegal financing procurement schemes."
McClellan said: "I think the report will continue to show that he was a gathering threat that needed to be taken seriously, that it was a matter of time before he was going to begin pursuing those weapons of mass destruction. So let`s let the report come out, and we can talk more about it at that point."
Meanwhile Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain, Washington`s top ally in the war, argued that the document would also show the toppled dictator posed a greater threat than the international community had feared.
Straw, talking to reporters Wednesday as he wrapped up a two-day visit to Iraq, said report`s apparent conclusion was no surprise but he stuck firm to the belief that it was right to go to war.
"My understanding of the ... report is that it highlights the nature of the threat of Saddam in terms of his intentions and capabilities even better" than seen previously, Straw said.
"I am in no doubt whatever that had we walked away from Iraq and left Iraq to Saddam, Saddam would indeed have built up his capabilities, built up his strength and posed an even greater threat to international peace and security."
Singing a similar tune, Bush reaffirmed his insistance that the invasion had been right.
Without mentioning the report, he said at an election speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, there was a "real risk" that Saddam would give weapons of mass destruction to terrorists.
"After September 11, America had to assess every potential threat in a new light," Bush said.
"We had to take a hard look at every place where terrorists might get those weapons and one regime stood out: the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
"We knew the dictator had a history of using weapons of mass destruction, a long record of aggression and hatred for America. He was listed by Republican and Democrat administrations as a state sponsor of terrorists.
"There was a risk, a real risk, that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons or materials or information to terrorist networks. In the world after September 11, that was a risk we could not afford to take."
The president acknowledged "strong concerns" held by some Americans about Iraq. "I respect the fact that they take this issue seriously, because it is a serious matter. I assure them we`re in Iraq because I deeply believe it is necessary and right and critical to the outcome of the war on terror."
The report presents "a very significant commentary on the mistaken case for war presented by this administration," Kerry campaign strategist Mike McCurry said in Englewood, Colorado.
"It is very troubling they could have been so wrong when it comes to something as fundamental as taking the country to war," McCurry added.