BAGHDAD, March 17: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein admitted on Monday that Iraq had in the past weapons of mass destruction but reiterated that it no longer had such weapons.

In an eleventh hour bid to avert a seemingly inevitable US-led invasion of Iraq, Saddam made the rare admission during a meeting with a Tunisian envoy.

“We are not collectors of weapons, but we had these weapons to defend ourselves when we were at war with Iran for eight years and when the Zionist entity was threatening us,” Iraq’s state television quoted him as telling Tunisian Foreign Minister Habib ben Yahia.

“Saddam Hussein cannot say that we don’t have banned weapons if we have such weapons. I confirm here that we do not have weapons of mass destruction.”—Reuters