Iraqi hands over nuclear parts

The US has been scouring Iraq for evidence of weapons

A former Iraqi nuclear scientist has handed over components and documents related to Iraq's nuclear programme that he had buried in his garden.

The scientist, Mahdi Shukur Obeidi, said that the parts had been buried there since 1991 on the orders of Saddam Hussein's government.

Mr Obeidi headed Iraq's centrifuge programme - aimed at enriching uranium to be used in nuclear weapons - until then.

US officials concede the discovery does not show that Iraq had an active nuclear weapons programme, the BBC's Ian Pannell in Washington says.

US authorities believe these statements are credible and provide evidence that Iraq was hiding information from UN inspectors, he says.

He was holding these, awaiting the order to restart the nuclear programme, and it never came

David Kay,
former weapons inspector

But, he adds, it will no doubt be used by defenders of the war in Iraq as proof that Saddam Hussein did indeed have something to hide - although it is not quite the smoking gun that the Americans have been hoping to find.

A former weapons inspector told the American TV network CNN that Mr Obeidi said he had not worked on a nuclear programme in 12 years.

"He was holding these, awaiting the order to restart the nuclear programme, and it never came," David Kay said.

Mr Kay now leads the CIA team searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The alleged existence of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons was a major reason cited by the US and UK for invading Iraq.

No such weapons have been found to date.

Document cache

But the American television station NBC reported on Wednesday that US forces have found millions of documents related to WMD programmes.

Located in two shipping containers, the trove of papers reportedly included instructions on how to hide materials and fool UN arms inspectors.

Mr Kay said Mr Obeidi had "done a great favour to the United States" by handing over the material, which included classified gas centrifuge components.

"There is a great amount of relief we don't have to worry about these particular documents and components spreading to other countries," he told CNN.

Mr Obeidi is believed to be living in the United States now.