Iraq helping al-Qaida, Rice says

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's national security adviser on Wednesday accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime of sheltering members of the al-Qaida terrorist network in Baghdad and helping Osama bin Laden's operatives in developing chemical weapons.

Condoleezza Rice's comments -- by far the strongest statements yet from the U.S. government alleging al-Qaida contacts with the Iraqi government -- were aired Wednesday on PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

"We clearly know that there were in the past and have been contacts between senior Iraqi officials and members of al-Qaida going back for actually quite a long time," Rice said. "We know too that several of the (al-Qaida) detainees, in particular some high-ranking detainees, have said that Iraq provided some training to al-Qaida in chemical weapons development."

Previously, the widely held view has been that while Hussein and bin Laden both oppose the United States, their motivations are too different for them to work together.

But Rice said, "There clearly are contacts between al-Qaida and Iraq that can be documented; there clearly is testimony that some of the contacts have been important contacts and that there's a relationship here." She hinted that details will be released later.

Wording snags U.N. resolution

The Bush administration's push to win quick approval of a U.N. Security Council resolution against Iraq has bogged down because of haggling within the administration and allies, including the British, over the language of the proposal, administration officials and diplomats said.

Officials said the delay likely means that a draft resolution will not be formally introduced until next week. This will complicate efforts by the U.N.'s chief weapons inspector to hammer out arrangements on new inspections of Iraq's weapons facilities when he meets with Iraqi officials in Vienna on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has provided hints over the past two days that it may not stand in the way of a strong U.N. resolution. "I think if there is such a resolution draft, we would be willing to study it," said spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue.

Britain and the United States are two of the five permanent, veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, and they have been trying to win the support of the other three: China, France and Russia.

Also . . .

TRAINING THE OPPOSITION: The Pentagon is preparing to train at least 1,000 Iraqi opponents of Saddam Hussein to serve as battlefield advisers, scouts, guides and translators for American military units during a U.S. attack on Iraq, administration officials told the Washington Post.

AIRSTRIKES: Allied aircraft have struck Iraqi air defense facilities again, officials said Wednesday. Precision-guided weapons were aimed at a radar facility and a defense communications facility in southeastern Iraq, said a statement from the U.S. Central Command in Tampa.

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