Who Put It In Answered - Events Are Exactly Like I Described

Senior intelligence officials said today that in the closed-door hearing on Wednesday, Alan Foley, a C.I.A. expert on weapons of mass destruction, said he was asked by Bob Joseph, the director for nonproliferation at the National Security Council, whether the president's address could include a reference to Iraq's seeking uranium from Niger.

The officials said that Mr. Foley's testimony indicated that he told Mr. Joseph that the C.I.A. was not certain about the credibility of the evidence concerning Niger and recommended that it be taken out of the speech.

The officials said today that, according to Mr. Foley, Mr. Joseph then asked him if the speech could instead include a reference to British intelligence reports that Iraq was interested in seeking uranium from Africa. The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair included that information in an unclassified white paper on Iraq and illegal weapons published last September.

According to intelligence officials, Mr. Foley said he told Mr. Joseph that the C.I.A. had warned the British that it was not sure about the information when the paper was published.

According to Mr. Foley's account — which the White House has said it could not confirm — when Mr. Joseph ultimately asked him whether it would be accurate to state that the British had reported that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa, Mr. Foley agreed.