LONDON, Aug 12: Saddam Hussein gave up all of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War, the scientist who headed his nuclear programme, Jaffar Dhia Jaffar, said in a BBC interview on Wednesday.

"There was no capability. There was no chemical or biological or any what are called weapons of mass destruction," said Jaffar in what BBC television called his first-ever broadcast interview.

Speaking in Paris, where he now lives, Jaffar - who ran Saddam's nuclear programme for 25 years - said there was "no development" of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons "at any time after 1991".

He said he knew that for a fact "because I am in touch with the people concerned". Saddam's quest for weapons of mass destruction - and the fear that they might fall into the hands of global terrorists - was one of the prime reasons given for the US and British invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Nearly 18 months on, no such weapons have been uncovered - a fact that both US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have been forced to concede. Jaffar told the BBC he remained loyal to Saddam's regime until he slipped out of Iraq via Syria two days before the fall of Baghdad which signalled the collapse of the longtime Iraqi dictator.

The nuclear scientist - who was educated in Britain, and has been described by some as the father of Iraq's nuclear programme - said he had been approached by the United States to defect, but was never tempted to do so.

"I don't think it's right to defect," he said. A transcript of Jaffar's interview with the current affairs show "News night" was released in advance of broadcast. Excerpts also appeared on the BBC's website.

He revealed that under Saddam, Iraq "specifically" adopted a programme to build a nuclear bomb in late 1987 - six years after Israeli warplanes bombed the country's Osiris nuclear reactor for fear it might actually do just that. -AFP