President Saddam Hussein could be in a position to threaten Iraq's neighbours with nuclear weapons within three years, according to an assessment by Germany's foreign intelligence service.
It said Iraq was advancing in other programmes to make weapons of mass destruction, with evidence of an increased number of chemical weapons projects as well as procurement activity abroad for its biological weapons programme.
Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) also estimates that missile technology being developed by Iraqi scientists would be able to deliver a warhead as far as 3,000 km by 2005 - putting Europe within range.
Details of the assessment were published in German newspapers. A spokesman at the BND's headquarters near Munich confirmed that selected correspondents had been briefed on Iraq by intelligence officials yesterday.
"It is clear that we have suspicions about Iraq," the spokesman said.
American and British planes hit Iraqi air defence targets around Baghdad earlier this month in a move criticised by some of their NATO allies, who were not informed about the raid in advance.