LONDON - Saddam Hussein allowed Al-Qaeda-linked groups to operate in Iraq, Britain insisted on Thursday despite an official US inquiry conclusion that there was no evidence linking the regime and the extremist network.
Saddam created a "a permissive environment" for terrorists, a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said, while not claiming a direct connection.
"The prime minister has always said Saddam created a permissive environment for terrorism and we know that the people affiliated to Al-Qaeda operated in Iraq during the regime," the spokesman said.
"The prime minister always made it clear that Saddam's was a rogue state which threatened the security of the region and the world."
A report released Wednesday by the US national inquiry commission into the September 11, 2001 attacks said there was no "credible evidence" Iraq had helped Al-Qaeda stage its attacks on the United States.
There was also no sign of any "collaborative relationship" between Baghdad and the network, it said.
The findings contradict previous statements by a series of top US figures, notably Vice President Dick Cheney.
Blair backed the US-led war to remove Saddam last year, insisting that the regime posed a danger due to its stocks of illegal weaponry, but did not use any Al-Qaeda links as direct justification.
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