By Caroline Hawley BBC Baghdad correspondent

Mr Blair is acting as part of the Zionist campaign against Iraq and all his claims are baseless

Hamid Hammadi, Iraqi minister

The dossier said that Iraq had the military planning to launch chemical and biological weapons within 45 minutes.

The Iraqi reaction was swift and exactly as expected.

Even as the dossier was being distributed in London, the Iraqi culture minister, Hamid Hammadi, said all Mr Blair's claims were baseless, and that he was acting as part of a Zionist campaign against Iraq.

Iraq denial

Baghdad denies it now possesses weapons of mass destruction.

Last week, Saddam Hussein sent a message to the UN saying Iraq was totally clear of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Three days earlier, Baghdad had agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors back into the country for the first time since 1998.

But Britain and the United States reacted with scepticism and continuing to ratchet up the pressure on Saddam Hussein.

	:	Dossier at-a-glance
Iraq and weapons of mass destruction

Over the past few weeks, Iraq's state-run media has been pouring scorn on Mr Blair, calling him a lowly lackey of the Americans.

British policy in general has been described by Iraqi newspapers as an attempt to return to the lost days of empire by helping the Americans to try to control Iraq's resources.

'Cowboy policies'

A prominent university professor, who is one of the few independent voices in Iraq, told the BBC that the UK should adopt a more constructive policy.

Wamid Nadmi, who studied in Britain, said changes were needed in Iraq, but that a military strike would resolve nothing.

He advised Britain not to be an obedient ally to, what he called, "American cowboy policies" that were trying to destroy a country.

Ordinary Iraqis who suffered 12 years of sanctions laugh at the suggestion that Britain and the US have any genuine concern for their welfare.

It has not escaped their attention that during some of the worst excesses of the regime the West supported Saddam Hussein.

Most computers will open this document automatically. You may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to open this PDF document.