Vials 'not chemical weapons'

Vials 'not chemical weapons'

The US military says one sample they found was labelled "tabun"

Initial analysis of a white powder found in thousands of boxes near the Iraqi capital indicate that it was not a chemical weapon, a US officer is quoted as saying.

A special team was sent to investigate the discovery at Latifiya - part of a large military complex frequently visited frequently by UN weapons inspectors before the war began.

"On first analysis it does not appear to be a chemical that could be used in a chemical weapons attack," Colonel John Peabody told Reuters news agency.

Colonel Peabody, commander of the Engineer Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, said most of it appeared to be the chemical antidote atropine, and another chemical.

Further tests are to be carried out.

Military officers also said they discovered documents in Arabic, which apparently explain how to carry out chemical warfare.

US troops also reportedly found a second site nearby containing vials of unidentified liquid and white powder.

Meanwhile, US Marines started digging up suspected chemical weapons hiding place about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south-east of Baghdad, Reuters reported.

The agency said the troops were checking a girls' school, after a man - said to be a former member of the Iraqi special forces - told them that groups of Iraqi men had hidden something in the school courtyard two months ago.

The Iraqi authorities have not commented on the finds so far. They have denied hiding chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction from UN inspectors.

When hostilities end, there will be huge pressure on the US and UK to find Saddam Hussein's alleged chemical weapons - the supposed reason for going to war - BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says.

Recent inspection

NERVE AGENTS

Iraqi protective gear - found at several sites

Chemical weapons: Nerve agents

A senior US official said the white powder found at Latifiya was believed to be explosives, AP reported.

Latifiya is part of the large Qa Qa military complex south-west of Baghdad.

It is one of a number of sites clustered around the capital where the Iraqi Government is thought to have developed chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, the BBC's Paul Adams says.

UN inspectors have visited the plant at least a dozen times, including as recently as 18 February.

Nerve agent

In a separate development, US military spokesman Vincent Brooks said troops in the western desert had found what they suspected was a training school for nuclear, chemical and biological warfare.

One bottle found at the site was labelled "tabun" - a nerve agent that the US Government says may have been used during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

"In that particular site, we believe that was the only sample," Brooks said.

"That's why we believe it was a training site. Our conclusion is that this was not a (weapons of mass destruction) site ... it proved to be far less than that."

Photos of the site showed shelves of brown bottles with yellow labels. Brooks said troops did not understand some of the labels and were collecting the bottles for examination by experts.