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Saddam had warned US of terror attack

According to secret tapes obtained by ABC News, Iran even raised the spectre of a nuclear attack.

Updated on: Feb 16, 2006, 14:14:00 IST
None | By , Washington
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Saddam Hussein told aides he warned America before 1990 that terrorists would launch a huge strike on US soil.

HT Image
HT Image

According to secret tapes obtained by ABC News, Iran even raised the spectre of a nuclear attack.

The toppled Iraqi leader is heard on the recordings he made in his presidential office during the 1990s, ruling out any such strike by Iraq.

The recordings also feature members of Saddam's family talking about how to conceal data on illegal weapons programmes from UN inspectors.

"Terrorism is coming. I told the Americans long time before August 2 and told the British as well," Saddam is heard to say on the tapes.

The mention of August 2 on the tape, appears to be a reference to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

Saddam, who is now on trial in Baghdad for war crimes, speculates that an attack with such weapons could be difficult to stop.

"In the future, what would prevent a booby trapped car causing a nuclear explosion in Washington or a germ or a chemical one?" he said.

Saddam, at the same time, added Iraq would not contemplate such an act.

"This is coming, this story is coming but not from Iraq."

The United States argued it could not risk a tyrant like Saddam passing weapons of mass destruction to terror groups, as part of its justification for war with Iraq in 2003.

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