Mubarak Denies Tipping Bush on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction

Egypt denied recent allegations by former US president, George Bush, who maintained that the Egyptian president had encouraged him to invade Iraq in 2003 on the grounds that it possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Spokesman for the president’s office, Suleiman Awad, denied that Mubarak had told Bush that the Iraqi president had such weapons; the reason behind the invasion which turned out to be false. He stressed that Mubarak had cautioned the US president and many other US officials whom he met against the invasion of Iraq, warning it would constitute a flagrant violation of international law.

Bush noted in his published memoirs Decision Points that Mubarak had warned former US commander Tommy Franks, that Iraq had biological weapons and was certain to use them on their troops. He maintained that Mubarak had influenced his decision to invade Iraq stressing that such intelligence from a Middle Eastern leader who knew Saddam well had an impact on his thinking.
 
Awad argued that, in fact, Mubarak had expected that the invasion would not be an easy operation and would provoke fierce resistance, during which Iraq would use all the arms at its disposal.