US Senate receives some Iraq reports

Teams of UN weapons inspectors were sent to Iraq before the war

The US state department has released documents about pre-war intelligence on Iraq demanded by an investigating Senate committee.

The department handed over 11 out of 15 documents demanded by the Senate Intelligence Committee by a noon [1700 GMT[ deadline, the Associated Press reported.

"We have co-operated," said state department spokesman Richard Boucher, adding the remaining four documents would be presented soon.

The committee, which is investigating the evidence used by the Bush administration to support its case for invading Iraq, gave the CIA, the Pentagon and the White House the same deadline.

The accuracy of pre-war Iraq information has become a highly charged political issue in the US.

Credibility at stake

Members of the intelligence committee sent out bluntly worded letters on Thursday to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Incomplete answers... will haunt us for years Senate letter

They were asked to provide previously requested documents and to allow officials from their departments to contact the committee to arrange interviews.

"We must take whatever steps are necessary to assure our nation that US intelligence is accurate and unbiased," said the letters, signed by the Committee Chairman, Republican Senator Pat Roberts, and senior Democrat Senator John Rockefeller.

The credibility of the US Government with its people and the credibility of the nation with the world were at stake, they wrote.

"Incomplete answers and lingering doubts will haunt us for years."

A similarly worded demand was sent to the CIA on Wednesday.

Threat 'exaggerated'

The accuracy of pre-war intelligence on Iraq and its alleged weapons of mass destruction has become a major political issue just a year away from the 2004 US presidential election.

Tenet, a Clinton-era figure, is under pressure

President Bush is under pressure, especially as US losses mount in Iraq.

Critics accuse the Bush administration of exaggerating the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq to gain support for the war.

The Senate committee is trying to establish how solid the pre-war intelligence on Iraq was, whether mistakes were made in interpreting it, and whether the information was manipulated.

US media reports suggest the committee's final report is likely to be strongly critical of the CIA and its director, George Tenet, who has been called to appear in person before the panel.

Mr Tenet is expected to be blamed for overstating the case against Saddam Hussein.

However, the BBC's David Bamford in Washington reports that some Democrats suspect that Mr Tenet, appointed under former President Bill Clinton, is being used as a scapegoat to deflect criticism away from the White House.