A newly declassified report by the U.S. Defense Department has found there was little evidence to support the Bush administration's claims of a connection between Al-Qaeda and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The Pentagon report, issued by the Defense Department's inspector general on April 6, quotes a 2002 CIA document that says: "Overall, the reporting provides no conclusive signs of cooperation on specific terrorist operations" between Hussein's government and Al-Qaeda.

Speaking on April 5, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney repeated assertions that such a link did exist before the decision was made to invade Iraq.