Empty Chemical Warheads Seized in Iraq

United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq say they have found a dozen empty chemical warheads while searching an ammunition storage depot. The warheads, which would be used to carry chemical warfare agents, are currently being examined by experts, a UN spokesman said.

"The warheads were in excellent condition and were similar to ones imported by Iraq during the late 1980s," said Hiro Ueki.

He did not elaborate on the significance of the find, but the UN office in Baghdad has since told the BBC that they did not consider the discovery to be a "smoking gun" at the present time. Iraq has insisted throughout the current crisis that it does not possess chemical weapons.

The US has threatened military action against Iraq if the country is found to have breached a recent UN resolution which obliged Baghdad to list all its weapons and provide unfettered access to arms inspectors.

Warning

The find comes shortly after the chief weapons inspector Hans Blix called on Iraq to do more to substantiate its claims that it has destroyed banned weapons, or risk a US-led war. Mr Blix was speaking in Brussels where he briefed EU officials on the progress of his inspection teams.

Mr Blix — who is going to Baghdad at the weekend — said the message he was sending to Iraqi leaders was that "the situation is very tense and very dangerous".

UN inspectors also made surprise visits to two private homes, interviewing Iraqi nuclear scientists. They took physicist Faleh Hassan to inspect what appeared to be a man-made mound of earth and thoroughly searched the home of nuclear scientist Shaker El-Jibouri. Calling it a "provocative operation", he said inspectors looked at everything in his home, "including beds and clothes" as well as research papers.

It was the first time inspectors had gone to private homes.

Iraq's chief liaison officer to the inspectors said the two men were not on a list of scientists given to the United Nations. But General Hossam Mohammed Amin said that the inspectors were doing their jobs and had behaved properly.

"All is going well so far," another top aide to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said at the same news conference.

"There are some complaints here and there and there but we expect to resolve [them] on Sunday," Amir al-Saadi said, referring to the upcoming visit of Mr Blix to Baghdad.

Concern

"We feel that Iraq must do more than they have done so far in order to make this a credible avenue," Mr Blix told reporters in Brussels earlier in the day. He said Iraq had to either provide evidence that it had destroyed the suspected weapons of mass destruction — such as archives and budgets — or surrender what they might have for destruction under supervision.

He said inspectors had found illegally-imported conventional weapons materials in Iraq, some dating from two years ago. These were being examined to see whether they were destined for banned weapons programmes.

Supporting the chief inspector, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said war could still be averted and the responsibility was "basically on the side of Saddam Hussein". The EU has made it plain that it does not want a war, the BBC's Chris Morris says, but there are clear divisions in its ranks.

President George W Bush is due to meet his main European ally, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, on 31 January. That is four days after Mr Blix submits his first report on inspections to the UN Security Council, which could be a possible trigger for military action.

'Important date'

President George Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer said the submission of that report was "an important date".

"Beyond that, events will dictate timetables," he said on Thursday.

Mr Blix has sought to downplay the significance of 27 January, saying he expected the Council to demand another report in February. The US is reportedly increasing pressure on Mr Blix to scrap plans for another report on 27 March. Thousands of UK and US troops are being deployed to the Gulf.

On Wednesday, the US formally asked for help from its allies in NATO in the event of a war. But US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld said the request did not mean that a strike against Baghdad was imminent.

Russia role

Mr Blix is travelling to Baghdad with the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei. Mr ElBaradei has been visiting Russia where he received support for inspectors to be given several more months to complete the work.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has expressed concern about pressure being exerted on the inspectors by "particular circles in Washington".

Russia has sent a senior envoy to Iraq to seek to defuse the confrontation with Washington.