Blair says Iraqi arms may never be found

British Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, America's closest ally in Iraq, said today that the unconventional weapons cited as a justification for the war against Saddam Hussein might never be found.

It was the closest Mr. Blair has come to acknowledging that his central argument for last year's invasion in the face of widespread public opposition may never be proven true or false. Mr. Blair's handling of the weapons issue has damaged his credibility and his popularity with voters, while his decision to support the American-led war is depicted as the defining event of his premiership.

"We know Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but we know we haven't found them," Mr. Blair said, addressing senior government and opposition legislators at a routine meeting. "I have to accept we have not found them, that we may not find them."

Mr. Blair suggested that unlawful weapons "could have been removed, could have been hidden, they could have been destroyed." But he maintained that Saddam Hussein had been a threat and had been in breach of United Nations resolutions concerning unlawful weapons.

Mr. Blair declined to offer an apology for going to war as the junior partner in an alliance with the United States.

"I do not believe there was not a threat in relation to weapons of mass destruction," he said.

Mr. Blair's comments were taken by his political adversaries as evidence that his reasons forgoing to war had been mistaken.

"The fact is we went to war for the wrong reasons," said Edward Leigh, a member of the opposition Conservatives who also supported the invasion of Iraq. "There was no threat at the relevant time. This is the defining issue of his premiership."

Mr. Blair was speaking eight days before an official inquiry by Lord Frederick Butler makes public a report into a wide range of concerns about Iraq's weapon systems.

Source: Agencies