Edition: U.S. / Global

THREATS AND RESPONSES: BAGHDAD; Iraq Has No Banned Arms, Hussein Says in Interview

Published: February 5, 2003

In a rare televised interview that was broadcast here tonight, Saddam Hussein denied that Iraq possessed any weapons of mass destruction or had any links to the terror network Al Qaeda.

''If we had a relationship with Al Qaeda, and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn't be ashamed to admit it,'' Mr. Hussein told the interviewer, Tony Benn, a retired left-wing member of the House of Commons who said he went to Baghdad to interview Mr. Hussein in a last-ditch effort to prevent an American-led invasion of Iraq.

The Iraqi leader insisted that he still held out hope for peace, and accused the United States of hunting for a ''pretext for aggression'' that would justify an invasion of Iraq to meet its goals of controlling the world's oil supply and, ultimately, controlling the world.

Excerpts from the one-hour interview with Mr. Hussein were televised here tonight on Channel 4, on the eve of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's speech before the United Nations Security Council. Mr. Powell is expected to present evidence both that Iraq has hidden enormous caches of weapons of mass destruction from inspectors and that it has ties to Al Qaeda. The interview, which was Mr. Hussein's first with a foreign journalist since the most recent crisis began, was videotaped on Sunday evening at one of the presidential palaces in Baghdad.

Mr. Hussein insisted that it was impossible to hide weapons of mass destruction from United Nations inspectors. ''These weapons do not come in small pills that you can hide in your pocket,'' he said, motioning toward his suit jacket pocket. ''These are weapons of mass destruction, and it is easy to work out if Iraq has them or not.''

Iraq now stands at the brink of an American-led invasion, Mr. Hussein said, despite a long record of cooperation with the inspectors. He attributed this to the United States' desire to seize the world's oil reserves and ''control the world and spread its hegemony.''

''If you want to control the world, you must control oil, and one of the most important requirements for controlling oil is to destroy Iraq,'' Mr. Hussein said. ''One of the main reasons for the aggression that the American administration is engaged in is to control the world.''

Asked about the interview, the White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said Mr. Hussein's ''track record on telling the truth is not good at all.''

''Given the fact that he has biological and chemical weapons, clearly what he said today is continued denial of the truth,'' Mr. Fleischer said.

Mr. Hussein insisted that it was in Iraq's interest to have the weapons inspectors ''find the truth'' that Iraq has complied with 12 years of United Nations resolutions.

''There is only one truth and therefore I tell you as I have said on many occasions before that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction whatsoever,'' Mr. Hussein said. ''We challenge anyone who claims that we have to bring forward any evidence and present it to public opinion.''

Sitting in a gilded chair across a table from Mr. Benn, Mr. Hussein spoke softly and often slowly, pausing more than once to weigh his responses.

The Iraqi leader maintained that it was in his country's best interests to assist the inspectors with their search because, ultimately, they will discover that Iraq has no banned weapons. ''It is in our interests to help them reach the truth,'' Mr. Hussein said. ''The question is whether the other side wants to reach the truth or whether it wants to find a pretext for aggression.''

Mr. Hussein said the inspectors had witnessed the destruction of large caches of weapons under resolutions adopted after Iraq was defeated in the Persian Gulf war in 1991. ''The superpowers can create a pretext any day to claim that Iraq is not implementing Resolution 1441,'' he said. ''They have claimed before that Iraq did not implement the previous resolutions. However, after many years it became clear that Iraq had complied with these resolutions. Otherwise, why are they focusing now on the latest resolution and not the previous ones?''

Mr. Benn last traveled to Iraq on the eve of war in 1991, when he met with Mr. Hussein in an attempt to stop hostilities. He returned to Britain with 15 British hostages who had been held as human shields.

In this interview, Mr. Benn seemed to be deferential to Mr. Hussein. When asked if the conflict was simply about oil, Mr. Hussein quickly agreed, blaming Israel as an instigator of American anger toward Iraq.

''Those people,'' Mr. Hussein said, apparently referring to Jews, ''and others have been telling the various U.S. administrations, especially the current one, that if you want to control the world you need to control the oil. Therefore, the destruction of Iraq is a prerequisite to controlling oil.''

Mr. Benn began the interview not with a question but with a statement, saying, ''I come for one reason only -- to see whether in a talk we can explore, you can help me to see, what the paths to peace may be.''

In response, Mr. Hussein said, with a smile, ''Welcome to Baghdad,'' and spoke about the importance of peace to the Iraqi people. ''Without peace,'' he said, ''they will be faced with many obstacles that would stop them from fulfilling their human role.''

He continued: ''The Iraqis don't wish war but if war is imposed upon them, if they are attacked and insulted, they will defend themselves. They will defend their country, their sovereignty and their security.''