Iraq-Al Qaeda Link Documented

For some reason I haven’t seen this yet in American news reports, but tomorrow’s Australian newspapers are reporting that the White House has released a report saying that Iraq supplied al Qaeda with materials for biological and chemical weapons:
“A high-ranking al-Qaeda operative in custody disclosed that Iraq supplied the Islamist militant group with material to build chemical and biological weapons, the White House said today….The report quoted the unnamed prisoner as saying al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden turned to Iraq after concluding his group could not produce chemical or biological weapons on its own in Afghanistan.
“‘Iraq agreed to provide chemical and biological weapons training for two al-Qaeda associates starting in December 2000,’ the report said.”
Meanwhile, Asian sources are also reporting that “Britain is apparently going to reveal new evidence that Iraq produced biological weapons.” The report is attributed to the Economist magazine.
The only thing I don’t understand is, why would the Administration release news like that on a Friday afternoon?
UPDATE: I don’t get it. This story is all over the Australian press, attributed to “correspondents in Crawford, Texas.” But it hasn’t appeared anywhere else. Is it a hoax that originated in Australia? Beats me.