Spokesman Scott McClellan said that such a proposal was premature until the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) charged with unearthing Saddam Hussein's supposed arsenals of chemical and biological arms wraps up its mission.

"It's important that we let the Iraq Survey Group complete their work and gather all the facts they can. Then we can go back and compare what we knew before the war with what we've learned since," he told reporters.

Former ISG leader David Kay told lawmakers earlier that in his "personal view" that only an independent inquiry into pre-war assertions by the administration of US President George W. Bush would find the truth.

"It is going to take an outside inquiry both to do it and to give yourself and the American people the confidence that you have done it," the former weapons inspector said.

Asked about Kay's comments, McClellan noted that the Central Intelligence Agency had opened an internal search into the gap between pre-war charges and the failure thus far to find any unconventional arms in Iraq.

"Before we can draw firm conclusions, we need to let the Iraq Survey Group complete its work. But, at the same time, the CIA is already looking into the intelligence as well," the spokesman said.

Kay's assertion since retiring that his group has found no evidence of stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction since Saddam Hussein's April 2003 ouster has drawn election-year scrutiny to pre-war claims.

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