"The absolute cynical manipulation, deliberately cynical manipulation, to shape American public opinion and 69 percent of the people, at that time, it worked, they said 'we want to go to war,'" Rockefeller told CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson. "Including me. The difference is after I began to learn about some of that intelligence I went down to the Senate floor and I said 'my vote was wrong.'"

Rockefeller went a step further. He says the world would be better off today if the United States had never invaded Iraq - even if it means Saddam Hussein would still be running Iraq.

He said he sees that as a better scenario, and a safer scenario, "because it is called the 'war on terror.'"

Does Rockefeller stands by his view, even if it means that Saddam Hussein could still be in power if the United States didn't invade?

"Yes. [Saddam] wasn't going to attack us. He would've been isolated there," Rockefeller said. "He would have been in control of that country but we wouldn't have depleted our resources preventing us from prosecuting a war on terror which is what this is all about."

Republicans say there was flawed intelligence to be sure, but they insist there was no attempt to mislead the public.

"In 2002 and 2003, members of both parties got a good look at the intelligence we had and they came to the very same conclusions about what was going on," White House Spokesman Tony Snow said.

Saddam had also repeatedly rebuffed requests for meetings from Al-Qaeda operatives, the report said.

Before, and after the 2003 invasion Bush administration leaders used purported ties between Iraq and terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda, as partial justification for the war.

On June 14, 2004, for example, Vice President Dick Cheney said : "Saddam Hussein was in power, overseeing one of the bloodiest regimes of the 20th century ... he had long-established ties with Al-Qaeda."

A day later, Bush was asked at the White House to name the best evidence for a link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda.

"Zarqawi. Zarqawi is the best evidence of connection to al-Qaeda affiliates and al-Qaeda," Bush said.

On August 21, this year, Bush said: "Imagine a world in which you had Saddam Hussein who had the capacity to make a weapon of mass destruction, who was paying suiciders to kill innocent life, ... who had relations with Zarqawi."

The report also found that Iraq ended its nuclear program in 1991, and its ability to reconstitute it progressively declined after that date. The administration had claimed before the invasion of Iraq that the program had been restarted.

A second committee report released Friday probed the role of the exiled Iraqi National Congress in providing intelligence on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction programs, which was later discredited.

The Senate assessments immediately stoked a new row over the US drive to war with Iraq, ahead of November's crucial congressional elections.

"Todays reports show that the administrations repeated allegations of a past, present and future relationship between al-Qaeda and Iraq were wrong and intended to exploit the deep sense of insecurity among Americans in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks," said Democratic Senator John (Jay) Rockefeller in a statement.

"The administration sought and succeeded in creating the false impression that al-Qaeda and Iraq presented a single unified threat to the United States," he said.

Another Democrat, Senator Carl Levin, said the report was "a devastating indictment of the Bush-Cheney administration's unrelenting, misleading and deceptive attempts to convince the American people that Saddam Hussein was linked with Al-Qaeda."

But White House spokesman Tony Snow, speaking before the report was released, said it contained "nothing new."

"It's, again, kind of re-litigating things that happened three years ago," he said.

"The president's stated concern this week, as you've seen, is to think, 'okay, we'll let people quibble over three years ago. The important thing to do is to figure out what you're doing tomorrow and the day after and the month after and the year after to make sure that this war on terror is won.'"

The offensive levelled hundreds of villages and used chemical weapons on many of them. Residents were herded into prison camps where many of the men disappeared and were executed, according to prosecutors.

The trial's resumption coincided with the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States and on the heels of a U.S. Senate Intelligence report that found no link between Saddam and the al-Qaeda terror network.

Although Saddam's link with al-Qaeda has been debunked - along with Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction at the time of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion - the Anfal case pointed to his regime's alleged use of poison gas against Iraqi citizens.

The Bush administration in Washington had argued that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was needed to unseat Saddam because he possessed weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al-Qaeda.

Even as recently as an Aug. 21 news conference, U.S. President George W. Bush said people should "imagine a world in which you had Saddam Hussein" with the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction and "who had relations with (deceased al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab) al-Zarqawi."

Major General Ibrahim al-Obeidi said the bus exploded soon after the suicide bomber got on board near the northern gate of the al-Muthana recruiting centre.

Officials at the al-Yarmouk hospital said they had retrieved 16 bodies from the scene of the attack. All of the dead appeared to be recruits who had boarded the bus outside the centre.

Recruitment centres for the Iraqi army and police have increasingly become targets for attacks by insurgents from the country's Sunni Arab minority.

Last week, the US military handed over operational command of the Iraqi army to the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, a move Washington said was a significant milestone towards the withdrawal of 155,000 US-led foreign troops.

However, the handover has failed to quell the daily violence in Iraq.

At least four bystanders were killed in another bombing that targeted a US military convoy today. Police said six people, including a child, were injured in the car bomb explosion in eastern Baghdad, which was reported as a suicide attack.

There were no reports of any US injurie, Major Hamid Mousa said. The US command had no immediate comment.

Hundreds of demonstrators accused him of complicity in the deaths of 1,100 Lebanese civilians from Israeli bombing in the recent conflict with Hezbollah.

The talks focused on strengthening the Lebanese government and enforcing a ban on arms shipments to the militant Hezbollah group.

Lebanon's most senior Shia cleric had tried to have the visit cancelled.

Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah called on the government to declare Mr Blair persona non grata.

He said Mr Blair should have been told to stay away so he would "know we are not so naive as to welcome him when he has contributed to killing us and slaughtering our children".

At a news conference, Mr Blair reiterated Britain's official position during the five-week conflict that a durable resolution would be better than a "quick fix".

The conference was briefly disrupted by a protester saying "shame on you" to Mr Blair.

Israel bombed targets across Lebanon, including residential areas and civilian infrastructure, saying it was necessary to restrict Hezbollah's military activity.

The conflict followed the capture by Hezbollah of two Israeli soldiers in a cross border raid and the killing of eight others.

Israeli military losses in clashes on the border were 116 men, while 43 civilians died in Hezbollah rocket attacks.

A ceasefire sanctioned by UN Resolution 1701 has largely held since 14 August.

'War supporter'

Security forces sealed off Beirut's central area, where Mr Blair held talks with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Hundreds of protesters gathered nearby in a stand-off with security forces, shouting slogans and waving banners describing Mr Blair as a "killer" and "war criminal".

"Tony Blair supports America and Israel and has supported the war, so how can we welcome him here?" said 21-year-old hotel worker Ali Shahine, who was among the protesters.

Lebanese newspapers have been carrying headlines saying Mr Blair is not welcome in Lebanon.

A spokesman for Mr Blair said expressions of anger would not be surprising in Lebanon, but the visit was to "resume our practical assistance for Lebanon as it recovers" after the conflict.

Mr Blair travelled to the country after a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Hamas, the militant group heading the Palestinian Authority, rejected his proposals that it should join a unity government which recognised Israel in order for an international boycott to be lifted.

A spokesman said the group was willing to form a coalition, but it would not accept conditions imposed from outside.

he Lebanese Communist party, the Peoples' Movement and independent secular parties and individuals issued a statement rejecting Mr Blair's visit. "Anyone who meets with Blair will be considered a partner in the Israeli aggression," it read.

Hizbullah, which has two ministers in the Lebanese cabinet, has not issued an official statement but its senior politburo member Galeb Abu Zeinab has told the Guardian that the party holds Mr Blair largely responsible for the level of violence heaped on Lebanon and believes he should be prosecuted for war crimes.

"Blair was a true partner in the killing of children and the destruction of thousands of homes; if he hadn't fully supported the US-Israeli position the war would not have happened in the way it did," said Abu Zeinab. "He is a full partner in the atrocities and I think he should be prosecuted as a war criminal alongside Bush and Olmert." He claimed to speak on behalf of most Lebanese people. "You could go to any part of the country and anyone you speak to will give Blair a major portion of the blame," he said.

Lebanon's most senior Shia cleric, Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, yesterday criticised Mr Blair for not calling for an early truce and for allowing US weapons to be shipped via Britain to Israel for use against Lebanon. He also criticised the Lebanese government for allowing Mr Blair's visit.

Nabih Berri, the speaker of the parliament, left Lebanon for an unscheduled four-day trip to Switzerland. A source close to Mr Berri told the Guardian he believed the speaker had left in order to avoid meeting Mr Blair.