‘Secret talks on Iraq invasion began in 2001’
London, November 25: A former top British intelligence officer says British officials decided in 2001 against participating in talks with their US counterparts about regime change in Iraq.
Peter Ricketts, now permanent secretary at the Home Office, said Tuesday that British officials were aware months before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States that the Bush administration was pressing for the removal of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.