Paper: Iraqi defector fabricated WMD intelligence to topple govt

LONDON - An Iraqi defector made up claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction to help topple his government, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The defector, Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, said in an interview with the Guardian that he had fabricated claims of mobile biological weapons and clandestine factories made to German intelligence officials throughout 2000.

Former US president George W. Bush and other high US officials cited the threat posed by Iraqi biological weapons as justification for the US-led invasion in 2003.