Iraq had a Sunni regime. Ben Laden is Sunni. Saudi Arabis duplicity in this war is owing to its fanatical attempt not to allow a Shiite government in Iraq, even if it were independent of Iran. Saudi money has fed the insurgency; it has fed Al Kayda. We may be sure that in times past that it did everything possible to shore up the Saddam government. You want a direct, institutional link between Ben Laden and Saddam. That was not necessary. Emotion is as much a part of war as any rational planning, and Al Kayda and Saddam shared the same emotion.
Before we go any futher...Iraq in fact had a secular Baathist regime.