Iraq has accused the United States of preparing to attack President Saddam Hussein's palaces with chemical weapons, to make it look as if those types of munitions were being stored there.

The comments came in a statement from the ruling Revolutionary Command Council.

But in Washington a spokesman for President Clinton dismissed the statement as ridiculous.

He said the United States did not even have such chemical weapons in its operational inventory.

Iraq has refused to let United Nations weapons inspectors into the palaces, although a week ago it took foreign journalists on a guided tour of six presidential sites, saying it had nothing to hide.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 

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