London - The regime of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was "not top of the list" of countries that caused international concern over weapons of mass destruction ahead of the 2003 invasion, a British inquiry into the conflict was told Wednesday. Officials in London in 2001 were "more alarmed" by developments in Libya, Iran and North Korea, Tim Dowse, former head of counter-proliferation at the Foreign Office, told the inquiry.
"It wasn't top of the list. In terms of my concerns on coming into the job in 2001, I would say we put Libya and Iran ahead of Iraq," he said.
That view was endorsed by William Ehrman, director of international security at the Foreign Office, who said: "In terms of nuclear and missiles, I think Iran, North Korea and Libya were probably of greater concern than Iraq."
Ehrman said government ministers had been warned repeatedly that the intelligence relating to Iraq's possession of chemical and biological weapons had been "patchy."
The inquiry, which began hearing evidence Tuesday, is looking at claims that Tony Blair, prime minister at the time of the invasion, used the alleged weapons threat to justify Britain's participation the US-led mission.
It was later established that Iraq had no weapons of mass destructions.
