October 17, 2003	Friday	Sha'aban 20, 1424

LONDON, Oct 16: British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged on Wednesday he was warned about increased threats to Western interests from the Al Qaeda network in the event of war on Iraq.

But Mr Blair said that following the warning from British intelligence, he decided to take Britain into the US-led war after weighing the possible short- term risk of increased terrorism against the long-term risks of rogue states developing weapons of mass destruction.

“The assessment I received was that the greatest terrorist threat to Western interests came from al-Qaeda and related groups, and that this threat would be heightened by military action against Iraq,” Blair said in a written reply to parliament.

Blair was responding to claims about the warning, made by British intelligence in evidence to an inquiry into the suicide of British government scientist David Kelly.

“When I took the decision that military action would be required to ensure that Iraq complied with United Nations Security Council resolutions, I had to weigh all the factors, including the possible short-term risk of increased terrorism, against the longer-term risks of rogue states developing weapons of mass destruction,” Blair said in his reply.

Blair was warned about the al-Qaeda threat following an assessment last February by the Joint Intelligence Committee.

Weapons expert Kelly, 59, took his life in July shortly after he was named as the source of a BBC radio report that alleged London’s September 2002 dossier on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction had been “sexed up”.—AFP