My guess is that he's been courting them because he's a long-range planner; and he probably thinks they are the only ones who can afford him any degree of protection from us.
On a side note, I happened to see a pastor with a TV ministry a couple of weeks ago (don't remember his name and I'd never seen him or the program before so I know nothing about his credibility). He claimed to have Iraqi friends who had told him that it was common knowlege in Iraq that after Saddam kicked the inspectors out, he built new facilities underground right beneath the old ones.