Chemical warheads seized in Iraq

The find is the most signficant by inspectors so far

United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq say they have found nearly a dozen empty chemical warheads while searching an ammunition storage depot.

IRAQI MATERIEL UNACCOUNTED FOR

Nearly four tons of VX nerve agents

Growth media for 20,000 litres of biological warfare agents

15,000 shells for use in biological warfare

6,000 chemical warfare bombs

Nuclear information

Eleven warheads which could be used to carry chemical warfare agents were found at the Ukhaider depot and 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.

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A 12th warhead required further evaluation, the UN statement said, noting that this was the inspectors' second visit to the depot, the first being nine days earlier.

Iraq - which has insisted throughout the current crisis that it does not possess chemical weapons - dismissed the find as "old rockets" which had long been forgotten.

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

It remains very unclear whether the discovery of warheads without any suspicious agents attached could be classed as a breach.

The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says on its own, the find may not be a smoking gun, but it may be viewed by the US and Britain as part of a pattern of infringements by Iraq.

Much, he says, now depends on how chief weapons inspector Hans Blix assesses the discovery.

Warning

The find comes shortly after Mr Blix called on Iraq to do more to substantiate its claims that it has destroyed banned weapons, or risk a US-led war.

Iraq must do more than they have done so far

Hans Blix
Chief UN inspector

Mr Blix, briefing EU officials in Brussels, said Iraq had to either provide evidence - such as archives and budgets - to prove that it had destroyed the suspected weapons of mass destruction, or surrender what they might have for destruction under supervision.

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".

KEY DATES

16 Jan - Chief UN inspector Hans Blix briefs EU

19 Jan - Blix meets top Iraqi officials in Baghdad

27 Jan - First full report on inspections presented to UN

29 Jan - UN discusses report

31 Jan - Bush meets Blair

15 Feb - Anti-war protests across Europe

27 Mar - Blix submits new report to UN

Next steps in full

The chief Iraqi liaison officer, General Hossam Mohammed Amin - who had earlier praised the inspectors - declared they were making "a storm in a teacup" over the find at the Ukhaider depot.

"These are 122mm rockets with an empty warhead. There are no chemical or biological agents or weapons of mass destruction or linked to weapons of mass destruction," he told a news conference.

"These rockets are expired...forgotten," he said.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, called the find an "interesting development" but cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

"I'm sure that we will be getting further information, but I certainly can't enter into that kind hypothetical proposition without having more facts at our fingertips," Mr Negroponte said.

General Amin had earlier on Thursday said the inspectors were doing their jobs properly and behaving well, despite the team's first visit to two private homes, where they interviewed Iraqi nuclear scientists.

Another top aide had said: "All is going well".

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

'Important date'

President George Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer has meanwhile insisted that the submission of Mr Blix's report on 27 January is "an important date".

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

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.