an investigation into whether this public disclosure was illegal, thus the Niger uranium controversy spawned an ongoing legal investigation and political scandal. In September 2004, the CBS News program 60 Minutes decided to delay a major story on the forgeries because such a broadcast might influence the 2004 U.S. presidential election. A CBS spokesman stated, "We now believe it would be inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election." This decision closely followed the Killian documents controversy. Nicolò Pollari, director of the SISMI intelligence agency, told an Italian parliamentary intelligence committee that the dossier came from Rocco Martino, a former Italian spy. The Los Angeles Times reported on 3 December 2005, that the FBI reopened the inquiry into "how the Bush administration came to rely on forged documents linking Iraq to nuclear weapons materials as part of its justification for the invasion." According to the Times, "a senior FBI official said the bureau's initial investigation found no evidence of foreign government involvement in the forgeries, but the FBI did not interview Martino, a central figure in a parallel drama unfolding in Rome." Removal of known yellowcake In 2008, the United States facilitated shipping yellowcake (refined uranium ore) out of Iraq. This yellowcake had been stockpiled prior to the first Gulf War, and was declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency and under IAEA safeguards. More than 550 tons of yellowcake was removed from Iraq and eventually shipped to Canada. See also 2003 invasion of Iraq Bush–Aznar memo Casus belli Curveball (informant) Downing Street memo Fair Game (2010 film) Fog of war Hussein Kamel al-Majid Iraqi aluminum tubes order Iraq disarmament crisis Iraq document leak 18 September 2004 List of uranium mines Alleged Iraqi Mobile Weapons Labs Plame affair Operation Rockingham Scott Ritter September Dossier Notes Further reading Eisner, Peter (2007). The Italian Letter: How the Bush Administration Used a Fake Letter to Build the Case for War in Iraq. Rodale Books. . . External links Background Detailed timeline of Africa-uranium allegation – Center for Cooperative Research "Who Lied to Whom?" by Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, 31 March 2003. Bonini, Carlo and Giuseppe D'avanzo; translated by James Marcus. Collusion: International Espionage and the War on Terror (2007) Melville House Publishing (Hoboken, New Jersey. USA) .Documents and those who relied on them "Yellowcake Follies: An Interview with Carlo Bonini" at Propeller.com "Who Forged the Niger Documents?" interview