UK troops may carry chemical kit

Rockets filled with sarin were destroyed in Iraq after the Gulf War

UK troops deployed in Iraq may have to start to carry chemical warfare suits and gas masks on a routine basis in the wake of a bomb containing sarin.

Two US soldiers were treated after being exposed to the nerve agent.

A British forces spokesman in Basra said troops had not been regularly carrying their nuclear, chemical and biological (NBC) kit.

But he insisted that it was available should the need arise and if it was necessary troops would carry it.

Chemical capability?

In the House of Commons the roadside bomb was seized upon by ministers as possible proof of their claims that Iraq under Saddam Hussein still had chemical and biological capability.

Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell told MPs it appeared to be part of the stockpile that should have been handed to UN weapons inspectors.

It was a old munition, and those who planted it may not have known what it contained, he added.

Concealed weapons?

"This does not represent a new capability but it does appear to be part of a programme declared to the UN," he said.

"That munition should have been handed over 1/8to UN weapons inspectors 3/8 and destroyed.

"It does therefore appear to be in breach of UN Security Council resolutions and it does significantly appear to back up what we have been saying all along that Saddam did conceal some of his stock.

"I think that point needs to be made."

The failure to discover any stockpiles has been an embarrassment for the government as it formed a key part of their case for joining coalition forces in invading Iraq.

Committee warning

A single drop of sarin, which was used to horrific effect in a 1995 terror attack on the Tokyo subway, can cause an agonising death.

The 155mm artillery round exploded near a US military convoy in Baghdad.

The Ministry of Defence said the decision to order troops to carry NBC suits was a matter for local commanders on the ground.

"What equipment they [the troops] carry is a matter for the commander in the field."

Just two months ago members of the Commons defence committee said there would have been severe consequences if Saddam had used chemical weapons because of problems with the supply of protective equipment.