Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad on Sunday categorically denied former US President George W. Bush's claim in his recently published memoir, "Decision Points," that President Hosni Mubarak had warned him in the run-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed biological weapons.
In a press statement, Awad said that, contrary to Bush's claims, Mubarak had warned Bush and other American officials against invading Iraq, since such a step would constitute a grave breach of international law.
Awad went on to say that Mubarak had also warned the US that the invasion would not be an easy task, noting that it would be opposed by a strong national resistance in which Iraq would use all the weapons available to it.
In his memoir, published earlier this month, Bush wrote that Mubarak "had told [US General] Tommy Franks that Iraq had biological weapons and was certain to use them on our troops." Bush went on to write that the Egyptian president had "refused to make the allegation in public for fear of inciting the Arab street."
"Intelligence from a Middle Eastern leader who knew [former Iraqi President] Saddam [Hussein] well had an impact on my thinking," Bush wrote.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
