Saddam wanted to RESTART his weapons programs.
The Duelfer report outlines Saddam's rationale to keep pretending he had WMD when he didn't, in fact, have any stockpiles worth mentioning. In the middle of the Middle East, surrounded by enemies (inside and outside of Iraq), he still needed to be seen as a threat.
He kept his capability to produce WMD intact and he was just waiting for the right time and the end of the UN sanctions to restart them (I'm sure some of it would then have, let's say, "slipped" into some agent's or al-Qaeda's hands to be used in the US after that.)
Trying to buy off the weapons inspectors would be entirely consistent with that.
He did buy off Scott Ritter and Galloway and lots of other people through the oil-for-food program so this is not a surprise at all.
Having that clearly proven remains real high on my "wish list"....can you imagine how the 'Rats would react??