Sepcial Report: 3rd Anniversary of War on Iraq                     

                       Tension accelerates in Iraq

    LISBON, March 21 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso admitted that he made a decision to support the U.S.-led war on Iraq on the basis of mistaken intelligence three years ago, local media reported on Tuesday. 

    Speaking on a local program called Le Grand Jury, Barroso said when acting as Portugal's prime minister in March 2003, he backed the war on the grounds that Iraq had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. However, the intelligence reports were not confirmed later.

    Barroso hosted a summit on Portugal's Azores islands on March 16, 2003 among the United States, Britain, Spain and Portugal. The decision to attack Iraq was reportedly made on that occasion. Enditem