WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday his prewar speech to the United Nations accusing Iraq of harboring weapons of mass destruction was a "blot" on his record.

"I'm the one who presented it to the world, and [it] will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It is painful now," Powell told ABC News.

His 2003 presentation lent considerable credibility to President Bush's case against Iraq and for going to war to remove Saddam Hussein.

Powell said he had relied on information he received at Central Intelligence Agency briefings. He said yesterday that then-director George Tenet "believed what he was giving to me was accurate." But, Powell said, "the intelligence system did not work well."

Powell also disputed the Bush administration's linking of Saddam's regime with terrorists.

He said he had never seen a connection between Baghdad and the Sept. 11 attacks. Still, Powell said that while he has always been a "reluctant warrior" he supported Bush on going to war the month after his U.N. speech.