Osama bin Laden started--and still runs--Al Qaeda. Any ties between Al Qaeda and Saddam if they even exist at all, are minimal at best.

I find it highly doubtful that any sort of credible news agency would claim that Saddam started Al Qaeda.

It is easy to make the association because both Saddam and bin Laden are both arabs and both don't like the USA, but that's merely a coincidence.