Saddam’s was suspicious that al-Qaeda was operating in Iraq.

Some Link/Tie that is: Saddam was worried about al-Qaeda in Iraq; so much for the 'Claims' that they were working together and/or on good terms.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1597217/posts
The Bush administration Wednesday night released the first declassified documents collected by U.S. intelligence during the Iraq war, showing among other things that Saddam Hussein's regime was monitoring reports that Iraqis and Saudis were heading to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks to fight U.S. troops. . .

. . . Many were in Arabic – with no English translation – including one the administration said showed that Iraqi intelligence officials suspected al-Qaeda members were inside Iraq in 2002.

The Pentagon Web site described that document this way: "2002 Iraqi Intelligence Correspondence concerning the presence of al-Qaeda Members in Iraq. Correspondence between IRS members on a suspicion, later confirmed, of the presence of an Al-Qaeda terrorist group . . .


How can anyone still claim there were Ties/Links between al-Qaeda and Saddam?

Nothing in the report said anything about Saddam being "worried". According to the report, the suspicion that Qaeda members were in Iraq was later confirmed. Now, once a fully autocratic government like Saddam's confirms the presence of people in the country whom it doesn't want in the country, how much time do you think it would waste booting them out (or taking them out)? If the Iraqi authorities did not act on the confirmation of this information, then it would indeed suggest some form of working relationship between Baghdad and al-Qaeda.