Intelligence Backs Claim Iraq Tried to Buy Uranium

This actually old news (dated June 27, 2004), but I haven't seen it discussed on ATS, and was unable to find a reference to this article in a search. If it is somehow a duplicate, please let me know. Since FT.com requires a subscription to view this, I have provided a link to a site that mirrors it:

Intelligence Backs Claim Iraq Tried to Buy Uranium
By Mark Huband
The Financial Times
June 27, 2004

Illicit sales of uranium from Niger were being negotiated with five states including Iraq at least three years before the US-led invasion, senior European intelligence officials have told the Financial Times.

Intelligence officers learned between 1999 and 2001 that uranium smugglers planned to sell illicitly mined Nigerien uranium ore, or refined ore called yellow cake, to Iran, Libya, China, North Korea and Iraq.

This story is also mirrored on several other sites, which can be located on Google.

In light of the controversy surrounding Bush's State of the Union reference to this, and the role of British Intelligence, I'm surprised I could not find reference to it in my search. Am I missing something?

More importantly, is this article telling the truth?