We have no relationship with al-Qa'ida, says Saddam

Saddam Hussein has used a rare television interview to deny for the first time any link between Iraq and al-Qa'ida.

Answering questions from the former Labour MP Tony Benn, the Iraqi leader denied American and British claims that he had chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, and accused Washington and London of seeking a pretext for war.

Dressed in a black suit and seated behind a marble table in a gilded chair, President Saddam fiddled with two gold fountain pens as he said that if Iraq had links with al-Qa'ida it would have had no qualms about making them public.

In his first television interview in 12 years, he said: "If we had a relationship with al-Qa'ida and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn't be ashamed to admit it ... We have no relationship with al-Qa'ida."

The interview was broadcast as Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac signalled that hopes of avoiding a serious transatlantic, and European, rift over Iraq now hinged on a report by the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, on 14 February.

At a summit in Le Touquet, the British and French leaders failed to resolve their differences over Iraq. "We have different approaches ... You can't wave a magic wand for them to disappear overnight" the French President said. M. Chirac also refused to rule out a French veto if the US and Britain tried to push through the Security Council the option of war. He said it was "for the [UN] inspectors to tell us" whether it was impossible to disarm Iraq peacefully.

The leaders agreed that the Iraqi regime had to be disarmed and that the crisis must be resolved through the UN. And both stressed the importance of the Blix report rather than the new evidence to be presented by Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, today. "We will make our judgements then," Mr Blair said.

Defence sources said British forces had been told they may have to act as an army of occupation for up to two years if the war goes ahead. But there is disquiet among British forces that they will not be allowed to take part in the main part of the campaign, instead being left to "clear up". They have been led to believe they may be limited to protecting the flanks of advancing American forces and looking after Iraqi prisoners.