10 February 2003

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Western alliances
The Western alliances are in crisis. That must be the conclusion after Monday morning's decision by France, Germany and Belgium to prevent Nato weaponry to take up defensive positions in Turkey in the event of a war in Iraq.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, said it was "beyond comprehension".

All this the day after a new Franco-German plan came to light to bolster the inspectors and delay any US-led attack on Saddam.

Newsnight talked to, among others, French, Russian and Americans.

Iraq/al-Qaeda connections
Colin Powell's assertion that Saddam and al-Qaeda were linked was largely derived from the existence of a camp in the north of Iraq, run by a shadowy Islamist group called Ansar Al Islam.

On Sunday, Powell's claims were dismissed by journalists on the scene in Northern Iraq.

However our reporter, Robin Denselow, filed an exclusive report from there - he thinks he's found evidence of some worrying connections.

Drugs rehabilitation
Finally, we looked at the government's drugs rehab programme.

Heroin addicts are prescribed methadone and have a 12-month period of intensive counselling.

But we reported on some fundamental flaws in the policy. Offenders on the programme that we spoke to still live in drugs ghettos surrounded by addicts and the temptation of drugs.

We interviewed the minister in charge.

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