Chalabi Provided All Four Lying Iraqi Defectors

The Iraqi National Congress, a U.S.-funded group of former Iraqi exiles, supplied the four defectors whose claims that Saddam Hussein had mobile biological warfare facilities now are being questioned by Secretary of State Colin Powell.

One of the defectors was code-named Curveball, senior U.S. officials said, and Curveball was the brother of a top lieutenant to Ahmed Chalabi, the group's leader and now a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. U.S. intelligence officials never directly questioned Curveball before the war, they said.

A second defector was determined to be a fabricator, but his claims still found their way into the Bush administration's case for war, according to U.S. officials.

"The other two (defectors) were not as significant," said a senior U.S. official, who like all of those who spoke requested anonymity because the matter remains classified. "Their information appeared corroborative of the overall thing."