By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iraq is a better place because the US-led coalition deposed former dictator Saddam Hussein, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Monday on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
However, the Australian leader said he never thought there was any concrete link between the al-Qaida terrorist who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraqi dictator.
"I never argued that," Howard told Sky News television before attending a September 11 memorial ceremony at the US Embassy. "The argument is very clear and that is Iraq is a better place for Saddam having been gone."