Fake document tied to Niger Embassy
By Sam Roe for the Chicago Tribune.

At one point, the Niger letters were seen as key evidence in the U.S. case against Iraq. In December, the State Department said Iraq's declaration to the United Nations regarding its weapons program omitted numerous items. Among them, the State Department said, were "efforts to procure uranium from Niger."

On March 7, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, told the Security Council that U.N. experts had determined the letters were forged.

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Fake document tied to Niger Embassy
BY SAM ROE
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO - (KRT) - Forged documents that the United States used to build its case against Iraq were likely written by someone in Niger's embassy in Rome who hoped to make quick money, a source close to the United Nations investigation said.

The documents, about a dozen letters on Niger's governmental letterhead, suggested that the African nation had agreed to supply Iraq with uranium, used in nuclear weapons production, the source said. Some of the letters were addressed to an Iraqi official.

But when International Atomic Energy Agency investigators analyzed the contents of the letters, they discovered discrepancies in names and titles that led them to conclude that the documents were fabricated.

An IAEA spokeswoman would not comment on the investigation, though she said the agency did not fault the United States or Britain for the forged evidence.

"We believe it was given to us in good faith," the spokeswoman said. "It doesn't seem that it was fabricated by British or American intelligence agencies in order to make a case" for war.

The source said that the IAEA suspects the letters were intended to be sold to intelligence agencies.

On Friday, Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, asked the FBI to investigate who forged the letters and why U.S. intelligence officials did not recognize them as fakes.

"There is a possibility that the fabrication of these documents may be part of a larger deception campaign aimed at manipulating public opinion and foreign policy regarding Iraq," he wrote in a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller.

An FBI inquiry, he wrote, "should, at a minimum, help to allay any concerns" that the U.S. government created the letters to build support for war.

Rockefeller spokeswoman Wendy Morigi said that "the rest of the world is not shining brightly on America right now," and the forged evidence "hurts our credibility, and it's embarrassing."

Niger Embassy officials were unavailable for comment.

At one point, the Niger letters were seen as key evidence in the U.S. case against Iraq. In December, the State Department said Iraq's declaration to the United Nations regarding its weapons program omitted numerous items. Among them, the State Department said, were "efforts to procure uranium from Niger."

On March 7, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, told the Security Council that U.N. experts had determined the letters were forged.

Research into the contents, such as whether names and titles were correct, revealed inconsistencies, the source said. The IAEA questioned Niger officials about the letters, and the officials denied knowledge of them, the source said.

U.S. officials have downplayed the discovery of the forgeries. Last Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Secretary of State Colin Powell said: "It was the information that we had. We provided it. If that information is inaccurate, fine."