IRAQ-US: Britain does not link officer murder to al-Qaeda

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Att.Editors: The following item is from the Qatar News Agency (QNA)

LONDON, Feb 6 2003 (IPS) - British security authorities refused to confirm what US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said about an alleged link between the murder of Steven Oak, a British Home Security officer killed in Manchester recently, and some members of al-Qaeda group believed to have fled to Iraq.

British security sources told reporters today they had no evidence to confirm Powell’s claims.

According to these sources, "Powell has jumped to conclusions without enough evidence and the United States has gone too far in its accusations.." These claims are still a matter of doubts and speculations and it was too early to judge them, the sources said.

So far, the British police announced no link between Iraq and any of the suspects accused of involvement in the murder of the officer.

Yesterday, the BBC Arabic Service broadcast a British intelligence report denying any link between Iraq and the al-Qaeda.

The report, which was authored by military intelligence specialists about three weeks ago, said the two sides contacted one another in the past but the two sides failed to maintain any sort of cooperation due to the mutual mistrust and the fact that the goals of each side run at logger heads with the other.

The report was described as "top confidential" and that copies of the same were sent to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and senior government officials.