Washington: Abandoning his initial resistance to an independent probe into Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which have not been found but which formed the basis for the Iraq war, US President George Bush has announced a "bipartisan" investigation into the pre-war claims.

"I am putting together an independent, bipartisan commission to analyse where we stand, what we can do better as we fight this war against terror," he said yesterday (Feb 2, 2004). "I want to know all the facts."

The report of the probe, which would also cover proliferation, would come out after the November Presidential elections so that it would not become a political issue.

Bush, however, continued to justify the Iraq war. "We know he (deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein) was a danger.

"And he was not only a danger to people in the free world, he was a danger to his own people. He slaughtered thousands of people, imprisoned people.

"What we don't know yet is what we thought and what the Iraqi Survey Group has found, and we want to look at that. But we also want to look at our war against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, kind of in a broader context," he said.

Bush also met former chief weapons inspector David Kay, who had exposed the claim that Saddam Hussein had massive quantities of weapons of mass destruction, over lunch at the White House.

"Before I move forward with the commission, I want to sit down with Kay. I appreciate his service. I do want to get a briefing from him," Bush said.

The White House also expressed continued confidence in CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) Director George Tenet.

It was Tenet who had reportedly persuaded the Bush administration that Saddam Hussein had large quantities of weapons of mass destruction. Later, Secretary of State Colin Powell made the unproven claim at the United Nations Security Council.

Critics said Bush's move was an attempt to prevent the matter from becoming a campaign issue.