Blair delays release of secret Saddam dossier

Tony Blair has postponed publication of an intelligence dossier on Saddam Hussein in the face of growing opposition to a strike on Iraq from Labour backbenchers.

Downing Street sources said last night that an intelligence file said to contain evidence that Iraq was building weapons of mass destruction would not be published before the Prime Minister travels to Texas for talks with President George Bush this week.

The six-page file, assembled by the Cabinet Office, is understood not to contain the "killer fact" to support military action against Iraq.

M16, the foreign intelligence service, is understood to doubt that Iraq was directly linked to al-Qa'ida and the 11 September hijackers.

The dossier, circulated in Whitehall last week, indicated that President Saddam was making fresh attempts to build biological weapons and long-range missiles, but it did not contain detailed evidence of a link with Osama bin Laden.

The British intelligence service is said to differ from the CIA, which believes that there is a link between Iraq and al- Qa'ida and that President Saddam was behind the 11 September attacks.

Mohammed Atta, lead hijacker in the World Trade Centre attacks, is believed by some CIA figures to have met an Iraqi intelligence official before the attacks.

Downing Street had previously indicated that the evidence would be released before the talks between Mr Blair and Mr Bush.