Blair faces fresh 'dodgy dossier' claims

The Independent newspaper said the dossier, published last September, contained at least six separate items on Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction that were lifted from reports up to 21 months old.

The report will probably cause further embarrassment for the government which has already acknowledged it made a mistake in failing to credit work by an American PhD student used in its discredited second dossier in February.

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Earlier this week, the embattled prime minister told a parliamentary committee he stood by the first dossier, insisting it supported the need for military action.

But the Independent said Saturday the dossier drew heavily on sources already in the public domain, including a January 2001 briefing paper by William Cohen, Defense Secretary in the Clinton administration, and a September 2002 report on Iraq by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Information taken from these documents included references to ballistic missiles, unmanned drones and "dual use" of civil material, the paper said.

A spokesman for Blair declined to comment on the latest newspaper claims, insisting: "We have said all we have to say.

AFP adds: The British government faced a fresh allegation Saturday that last September's dossier on Iraq used information lifted from the Internet to reinforce the case for war just as did the later, now discredited "dodgy" dossier, published in February.

The Independent newspaper reported that the document showed at least six separate items on Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction were lifted from reports up to 21 months old.

Downing Street has acknowledged that it made a mistake in failing to credit work by an American student used in its February dossier, but has stoutly defended the integrity of the September document.

But The Independent claimed that the earlier dossier drew heavily on sources already in the public domain.