Forged documents used by US to allege Iraq nuclear program
'Documents that purportedly showed Iraqi officials shopping for uranium in Africa two years ago were deemed "not authentic" after scrutiny by UN and independent experts, Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Security Council. Dr ElBaradei also rejected an important Bush Administration claim - made twice by the President in major speeches and repeated by his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, on Friday - that Iraq had tried to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes to use for uranium enrichment. Dr ElBaradei also reported finding no evidence of banned weapons or nuclear material in an extensive sweep of Iraq.

'Sources familiar with the forgery investigation described the faked evidence as a series of letters between Iraqi agents and officials in the central African nation of Niger. The documents had been given to the UN inspectors by Britain and reviewed extensively by US intelligence. The forgers had made relatively crude errors - including names and titles that did not match with the individuals who held office at the time the letters were purportedly written, the officials said. "We fell for it," said one US official who reviewed the documents.'

Forged documents used by US to allege Iraq nuclear program
'Documents that purportedly showed Iraqi officials shopping for uranium in Africa two years ago were deemed "not authentic" after scrutiny by UN and independent experts, Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Security Council. Dr ElBaradei also rejected an important Bush Administration claim - made twice by the President in major speeches and repeated by his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, on Friday - that Iraq had tried to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes to use for uranium enrichment. Dr ElBaradei also reported finding no evidence of banned weapons or nuclear material in an extensive sweep of Iraq.

'Sources familiar with the forgery investigation described the faked evidence as a series of letters between Iraqi agents and officials in the central African nation of Niger. The documents had been given to the UN inspectors by Britain and reviewed extensively by US intelligence. The forgers had made relatively crude errors - including names and titles that did not match with the individuals who held office at the time the letters were purportedly written, the officials said. "We fell for it," said one US official who reviewed the documents.'