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Italian Officials Face Questions on Niger Document
Two high-level Italian officials were scheduled to face questions today on whether Italy knowingly gave the United States and United Kingdom forged documents indicating that prewar Iraq had sought African uranium for use in a nuclear weapons program (see GSN, Oct. 27). Cabinet Undersecretary Gianni Letta and Italian SIMSI intelligence agency chief Nicolo Pollari were expected to appear before a parliamentary commission. Pollari asked for the hearing after the La Repubblica newspaper reported last week that the Italian government passed on documents it knew to be fake that detailed an Iraqi attempt to buy 500 tons of uranium yellowcake from Niger. Premier Silvio Berlusconi has defended Pollari, and the Italian government has rejected any claims of wrongdoing. Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said Italy had “no responsibility, voluntary or involuntary,” in the matter (Associated Press, Nov. 3). U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley said yesterday that he met with Pollari in 2002 but that there was no talk of uranium, Agence France-Presse reported. “There was a meeting in Washington on [Sept. 9, 2002]. I did attend a meeting with him,” Hadley said at a press briefing. “It was, so far as we can tell from our records, about less than 15 minutes. It was a courtesy call. Nobody participating in that meeting or asked about that meeting has any recollection of a discussion of natural uranium, or any recollection of any documents being passed. And that's also my recollection” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 3). The White House yesterday looked to deflect criticism on the use of intelligence before the war, saying that Democrats had agreed Saddam Hussein was dangerous, the Associated Press reported. “If Democrats want to talk about the threat that Saddam Hussein posed and the intelligence, they might want to start with looking at the previous administration and their own statements that they've made,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Former President Bill Clinton and other Democrats “used the intelligence to come to the same conclusion that Saddam Hussein and his regime were a threat,” he said (Associated Press/USA Today, Nov. 2). Meanwhile, I. Lewis Libby today pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the leak of the name of a CIA officer whose husband criticized the use of intelligence before the war, CNN reported. Libby, who resigned as Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff last week, faces one count of obstruction of justice and two counts each of perjury and making false statements (CNN, Nov. 3).
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