Charles pays surprise visit to Iraq; Blix slams US-UK over WMD

By: Nabil Raza

LONDON: Britain's Prince Charles made a surprise visit to British troops in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Sunday amid tight security becoming the first member of the royal family to visit Iraq, UK's Press Association reported.

He flew into the British Army controlled city to see for himself the progress made by British forces in partnership with locals in helping to rebuild the area, nearly one year after the second Gulf War started.

Charles met more than 200 soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Wales and the Royal Parachute Regiment thanking them for their work in Iraq, US administrator L. Paul Bremer and the top Briton Sir Jeremy Greenstock during his 5 1/2 hour visit.

The Prince of Wales also held talks with local leaders and a cleric Sheikh Maithan Al Sehlani at the Basra palace.

In another development, the former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix on Sunday likened the use of intelligence by the leaders of Britain and the United States to justify war in Iraq to the tactics of insincere salesmen.

Talking to BBC television, Blix said: “The intention was to dramatize it (the intelligence) just as the vendors of some merchandise are trying to exaggerate the importance of what they have.”

Nearly 10 months after the war none of the biological or chemical weapons cited by President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the reason for a pre-emptive attack on Iraq have been found.

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