Fresh UK Iraq dossier questions
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Blair has defended the September 2002 dossier.
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LONDON, England -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing fresh allegations that a September 2002 dossier on Iraq lifted old information from the Internet.
The Independent newspaper reported Saturday that the dossier contained at least six separate items on Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction that were lifted from reports up to 21 months old.
Blair's government has already acknowledged it made a mistake in failing to credit work by an American doctoral student used in its discredited February 2003 dossier.
But it has stoutly defended the integrity of the September document.
Earlier this week, Blair told a parliamentary committee he stood by the first dossier, insisting it supported the need for military action.
The Independent claimed that the earlier dossier drew heavily on sources already in the public domain.
They were a January 2001 briefing paper by William Cohen, U.S. Defense Secretary in the Clinton administration; a February 2001 appearance before a Senate intelligence committee by CIA Director George Tenet; an unclassified CIA report to Congress covering the period July 1 to December 31, 2000; and a report on Iraq by the International Institute for Strategic Studies published in London last September.
These pieces of evidence included references to ballistic missiles, unmanned drones, nuclear programs, "dual use" of civil materials, maps showing how British bases in Cyprus were within range of Iraqi missiles, and Saddam's supposed plan for regional domination.
Blair's office declined to comment in detail on the fresh claims of plagiarism.
A spokesman noted that during his appearance before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this week Blair stood by the intelligence material presented to the public.
"We have said all we have to say on this," the spokesman added.
