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All sovereign countries can resort
to pre-emptive strikes: US

"The right to resort to pre-emptive or preventive strikes is inherent in the sovereignty of a nation to protect itself," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington.

"The concept of pre-emptive strikes has been included in this year's Strategy Report to alert the public to the fact that the terrorist threat is different from other threats. It could be applied to terrorists or to a country," Powell said.

Powell, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and others also asserted that recent disclosures by captured Al Qaeda prisoners show that the terror network was active in Baghdad, Iraq.

Powell said that this statement is based on 'credible evidence'.

Rice said that Iraq has provided some training to Al Qaeda members in chemical weapons development.

Powell assured the committee that the US goal after Saddam's ouster is a united Iraq and said US is opposed to a separate Kurdish state.

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