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Thanks for a great thread.

Peach, if you are going to keep a file on Libya/Iraq/WMD connection, please put me on your PING list for any new developments.

Finally the "Ali Sobree" that was mentioned by Loftus must be Naji Sabri Ahmad al-Hadithi

Here's what is written about him at:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/sabri.htm

Dr. Naji Sabri, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was Ambassador of Iraq to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and to the United Nations Office (Vienna) during 1999-2001. On April 18, 2001, he was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and on August 4, 2001 he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Note the underlined; quite a coincidence isn't it?

Further biographical notes from Online Newshour:

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri Ahmad al-Hadithi's primary role is leading Iraq's diplomatic efforts to weaken support for a possible U.S. military attack. He has continued to lobby permanent United Nations Security Council members as part of Baghdad's efforts to shore up international support, including visits to Russia and China. Sabri has also met with a delegation from India and the 22-member Arab League.

He has also spearheaded efforts to reach out to former enemies in an effort to find new allies against the U.S. During a five-day meeting in January 2002 in Iran, once Iraq's central foe, he told Iranian President Mohammad Khatami that U.S. behavior "is not just a threat to us, but a threat to the Islamic world."

Sabri has been part of the ongoing high-level talks with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and chief U.N. weapons inspector Dr. Hans Blix. And it was Sabri, along with Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who delivered the letter in September from the Iraqi government to Annan saying Saddam Hussein would allow weapons inspectors back into Iraq.

Sabri was appointed Foreign Minister last year. A member of a historically powerful family, he holds a doctorate in English literature. During the Gulf War, he was Deputy Information Minister and, at one time, ran Iraq's press office in London. Before his appointment, he served as an ambassador to Austria.

Sabri is considered more of a technocrat than a political leader. Some view him as an interim figure in the Hussein cabinet though he is said to be close friends with Saddam's younger son, Qusay.

-- By Raven Tyler, Online NewsHour

Cheers,

ScaniaBoy