Iraq dismissed as lies and a "typical American show with special effects" a presentation on Wednesday by Secretary of State Colin Powell to the U.N. Security Council on alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After Powell's speech, Iraqi officials scrambled to refute what one said were "hollow allegations" designed to hamper U.N. weapons inspections and justify a U.S. military invasion.

"This was a typical American show, complete with stunts and special effects...It is really below the level of a country leading the world now to come up with such allegations and ideas," Amir al-Saadi, President Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser, told a news conference.

"What we heard today was for the general public and mainly the uninformed in order to influence their opinion and to commit aggression on Iraq," Saadi said.

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf told the official Iraqi News Agency: "We can confirm that these are hollow allegations that have nothing new to add to previous CIA reports."

He described satellite pictures produced by Powell of suspicious activities outside weapons sites as "nothing different to cartoon films."

Sahaf said Foreign Minister Naji Sabri would send a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday responding to Powell's "lies and allegations." The information minister said the response would also be available in Baghdad at 11 a.m. EST.

Saadi reiterated that Iraq's December arms declaration was "100 percent accurate and true" and Powell's allegations that Iraq was conducting forbidden activities were "deliberate attempts to undermine the work of inspectors."

He denied a charge by Powell that he was member of a high-level committee set up to deceive weapons inspectors. "My orders since the beginning were to tell everything," Saadi said.

"UNTRUE AND NOT GENUINE"

Saadi said recordings of conversations between Iraqi officers could easily be fabricated. "Any third rate intelligence outfit could produce such recordings. It is nothing beyond their capabilities, it is simply untrue and not genuine."

He said the problematic issue of U-2 surveillance flights requested by U.N. inspectors could be easily resolved: "America and Britain need to stop their flights (over two no-fly zones in Iraq) for a few hours when the U-2 flies inside Iraqi airspace.

Powell played tapes and showed satellite pictures, which he said proved the Iraqi military, had conspired to conceal nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and urged the United Nations not to shrink from disarming Iraq.

"These are lies and fabrications which have no material proof. They are aimed at creating a pretext for military aggression against Iraq," Salem al-Kubaisi, head of the Arab and foreign relations committee in Iraq's national assembly, told Reuters.

Likening Powell's presentation to "Hollywood scenarios," he said: "This scenario, like previous scenarios, will fail."

"The real response (to Powell's allegations) should come from U.N. weapons inspectors who have absolute freedom to visit all sites," Kubaisi said

PHTO CAPTION

At a press conference held at the Ministry of Information in Baghdad Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003, Lt. Gen. Amir al-Saadi, left, flanked by Maj. Gen. Hossam Mohamed Amin, dismisses U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's case against Iraq case before the U.N. Security Council as a collection of 'stunts' and 'special effects' aimed at undermining the work of U.N. inspectors in Iraq. (AP Photo/Jerome