We knew before the invasion that al Qaeda and Saddam had contacts and a truce of sorts, where they avoided attacking each other to concentrate on their mutual foe. What nobody has found so far is evidence that it went further then that.

As for al-Zarqawi being in Iraq without Saddam's knowledge, consider just how long Saddam managed to avoid arrest despite having an entire army looking for him. Which isn't the same as Saddam actually trying to arrest him, which is also fairly unlikely.

Jay