British spy chiefs have retracted information that Saddam Hussein had continued to produce weapons of mass destruction (WMD), according to a BBC report.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's evidence to the Hutton inquiry and claims about Iraqi WMD were also questioned last night by the BBC1 Panorama programme.
His September 2002 dossier stated that: "Iraq has continued to produce chemical and biological agents."
This was a central plank of Mr Blair's case that the action was needed to counter the "current and serious" threat from Saddam.
But in a rare move, MI6 have now withdrawn it, a senior intelligence source told Panorama. Mr Blair has already admitted that Iraqi WMD may never be found ahead of Lord Butler's report on intelligence failings.
However, he insisted it would have been wrong to suggest that Saddam did not pose a WMD threat. Downing Street refused to comment ahead of the Butler report on Wednesday.
Former senior secret service figures have gone on the record with their criticisms of Mr Blair in the programme.
Dr Brian Jones, a retired Defence Intelligence staff (DIS) branch head, called for the retracted intelligence to be published. That would show "what exactly it was and what was going on", he said.
Dr Jones also said he was "confused" by Mr Blair's evidence to the Hutton inquiry which cleared the British government of "sexing-up" intelligence.
Mr Blair told the Hutton inquiry that a "tremendous amount" of information about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction had crossed his desk. But Dr Jones, a long-standing critic of the government's Iraq dossier, said he "couldn't relate" to that account.
PA