ONE of Saddam Hussein's top military advisers at the zenith of his power as Iraq's dictator gave an Easter Sunday speech at a Newport church.

General Georges Sada, a fighter pilot who became Saddam's air vice-marshal, spoke at King's Church in Pill.

A Christian, Gen Sada is a spokesman for the Iraqi government and works towards bringing peace to his war-torn country.

Speaking to the Argus yesterday, he said history would vindicate George Bush and Tony Blair for the coalition force's invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Gen Sada claims Saddam was trying to develop nuclear weapons by paying hundreds of millions of dollars to top Chinese scientists.

He claimed Saddam also possessed chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The general claims the Iraqi tyrant fully intended to use WMD against the West in revenge for his defeat in the Gulf War.

His claims are made in a book he has published this year called Saddam's Secrets. "I believe George Bush and Tony Blair were justified in their decision to invade," he said.

"They didn't just liberate Iraq. God knows what Saddam was going to do and his evil intentions against countries in his own region and Britain and America."

He said international pressure for Saddam to allow United Nations weapons inspectors access to Iraq in 2002 meant he was faced with a problem he could never solve. With war clouds looming, Gen Sada said a national disaster in Syria, which claimed the lives of at least 20 people, gave Saddam a way out.

He said: "A dam collapsed, causing a lot of floods, and Saddam declared to the world he was going to help Syria. But it was a lie as he began sending the WMD there in commercial jumbo jets."

He said friends told him they flew all the WMD, probably with the knowledge of the Damascus government, after a total of 56 sorties.

What happened to the WMD after that, Gen Sada says, he can only speculate.

His claims are now being investigated by the CIA, he added. The general said he is confident democracy will take root in his country: "Iraq will be the light in the darkness of the Middle East."