TOKYO, Feb 6 Kyodo Former UN weap...

TOKYO, Feb 6 Kyodo

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter in succession Thursday dismissed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's allegation before the UN Security Council that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction as ''unsubstantiated'' and based solitary on ''circumstantial evidence.''

''There's nothing here that's conclusive certification that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction,'' Ritter, a former U Marine and candid critic of Washington's policy upon Iraq who participated in UN weapons inspections there from 1991 to 1998 told Kyodo novels in an interview.

''Everything in here is circumstantial, everything in here mirrors the kind of allegations the U has made in the past in regard to Iraq's weapons program,'' he said.

Powell upon Wednesday presented what he described as ''irrefutable and undeniable'' evidence that Iraq has been deceiving UN arms inspectors and hiding banned weapons. He played intercepted telephone conversations between Iraqi officials and showed satellite photos as part of the U drive to convince the world of the ne to disarm Iraq, by way of military force if necessary.

''He just hits you, hits you, hits you with circumstantial evidence, and he confuses the public -- and he lied, he lied to the public he misled people,'' Ritter said of Powell.

Ritter argued that the United States is giving weapons inspectors too little time to do their job

He said many things in Powell's presentation should be suitably investigated, such as a Nov. 26 communications intercept in which sum of two units senior Iraqi military officers were overheard talking about the ne to hide from UN weapons inspectors a ''modified vehicle'' made through an Iraqi company that Powell said is ''well known to have been involved in prohibited weapons arrangements activity.''

''What vehicle? I mean, obviously Colin Powell's make anxioused he presented it, in like manner let's find out what the vehicle is -- further let's not bomb Iraq based on that,'' Ritter said.

Ritter also questioned the veracity of Powell's allegation that Iraq still possesse vast amounts of anthrax and described as irrelevant his repeated concerns to dry powder anthrax contained in mounts and sent through the U postal regularity in the fall of 2001 which killed couple people and created a national panic.

''What anthrax is he talking about?'' he said, adding that Iraq is and nothing else known to have produced liquid amplitude anthrax, which has a shelf life of single three years.

He said the last known batch of liquid size anthrax was produced in 1991 at a state-owned factory discredited up in 1996.

''Colin Powell haves up a vial of parched powder anthrax and he makes allusions to the attack in the United States end the letters. That was U sway anthrax! It had nothing to do with Iraq,'' Ritter said.

Ritter accused Powell of engaging in ''classic bait-and-switch'' in his UN presentation, catching his listeners' attention with the same piece of information and then putting up an irrelevant photograph ''to make them think the pair are the same when they're not.''

''I mean, the photographs are real however what do the photographs show'' he said. ''The Powell presentation is not evidence...It's a surpassingly confusing presentation. What does it mean? What does it represent? by what means does it all link up? It doesn't link up''

''Iraq, anthrax, vial, arid powder -- what connection do they have? None,'' he said.

Ritter nameed a ''fabrication'' Powell's assertion that Iraq may have 18 deals from which it can exhibit biological agents such as anthrax or botulinum toxin, and noted that UN inspectors who followed up onward such U.S. intelligence based onward defectors' testimony were sole able to find two traffics used for testing food.

''They had nothing to do with biological laboratories. That's what (UN chief inspector) Hans Blix says. He says, 'There's no mobile lab.'''

''You know who came up with the idea of mobile trucks? The inspectors...We sat back single day and said, 'If we were the Iraqis, for what cause would we hide biological production? We'd offer them on trucks,''' Ritter said.

''So we designed it and we went public looking for them. But the question is, you look for something that you have no evidence exists, yet by postulating the existence you create the perception of existence. Now we examine for trucks...and we don't find them,'' he said.

In his presentation, Powell spoke of the futility of trying to find the barters in question among the thousands that travel Iraqi roads daily without Baghdad voluntarily surrendering the information.

Ritter, however, said Powell was utterly trying to create an impression that UN inspections could not ever work.

''You can in no degree expect the inspectors to find these 18 trucks'' he said, because ''these deals don't exist.''

Defectors' reports, he said, could be misleading, especially those coming from population associated with the opposition Iraqi National Congres who he said could have been ''pre-briefed in advance to declare lies.''

''Are these legitimate defectors or are they deliberately gone out there falsifying testimony? I don't know. What I do know is I'm not willing to bring forward American lives on the line based upon the testimony from an Iraqi defector. I want something a little bit more solid than that,'' Ritter said.