WASHINGTON (AFX) - The US said Sunday it finds reports Russia gave Saddam Hussein intelligence after the 2003 invasion of Iraq war 'very worrying' and will seek explanations from Moscow.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley vowed to pursue the matter, as anger welled here against the Russians for possibly putting US troops at risk.
Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy said the reports, if true, would warrant a review of ties with Moscow and a second look at US attendance at a Group of Eight industrialized nations summit this July in St. Petersburg.
Rice said the US administration needed time to digest a Pentagon report released Friday that charged Russia had given Saddam information on US troop movements after the invasion that led to his ouster three years ago.
Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service has denied the report, which said the Russians collected information from sources in the US Central Command in Doha, Qatar, and then delivered it to Saddam.
Rice told Fox News television that she had no reason to doubt or confirm the allegations but added: 'I would not jump to the conclusion that, if indeed the reports are true, that it had to be Moscow-directed.'
The secretary, who was President George W. Bush's national security adviser when the Iraq war was launched, said she had been unaware of any Russian intelligence-sharing with the Iraqis.
The Pentagon report on Russian intelligence activities during the Iraq war comes at a time when Washington and Moscow are at loggerheads over various international issues.
The Russians are opposing US-led moves to seek a strong UN resolution against Iran for its suspected efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.
The two countries also differ on their approach to the new Palestinian government formed by the militant group Hamas and to the authoritarian regime in the former Soviet republic of Belarus. newsdesk@afxnews.com afp/hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited