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To: lurqer who wrote (34708)	1/10/2004 8:58:02 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 89467

WMDs found - but they're 10 years old. Danish forces find buried chemical weapons in Iraq Danish troops have found dozens of mortar rounds buried in Iraq which chemical weapons tests show could contain blister gas. The Danish army said the 36 120mm mortar rounds had been buried for at least 10 years. Blister gas, an illegal weapon which the ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said he had destroyed, was extensively used against the Iranians during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Chemical weapons were also used to kill about 5,000 Kurds in the northern city of Halabja in 1988. “All the instruments showed indications of the same type of chemical compound, namely blister gas,” confirmed the Danish Army Operational Command. “However, this will not be confirmed until the final tests are available,” it announced in a statement following the initial examination of liquid leaking from the weapons. Results of final tests were likely to be ready in about two days. Mustard gas, one of the best known of the blister agents, can remain toxic in the soil for decades. Although it can kill if it enters the lungs, blister gas is used mainly to weaken infantry by making the skin break out in excruciatingly painful blisters. Blister agents such as mustard gas were developed and first used by the Germans in World War I. Italy and Egypt have also used such chemical weapons against enemies. Four different types of instrument were used on three of the mortar rounds, the Danish army said, adding that 100 more rounds could be buried at the site. Icelandic bomb specialists working with the Danish soldiers said the rounds had been found buried in a road construction, 45 miles south of Amara, north of Basra, and that a mobile US chemical research laboratory has been sent to help. “Most were wrapped in plastic bags, and some were leaking,” said Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, adding that it was likely the weapons were left over from the Iran-Iraq war. After the mortar shells were unearthed, British specialists were asked to analyse them. There are several hundred Danish soldiers working with a British-led multinational force responsible for security in southern Iraq. The US administration had cited the threat of illicit weapons of mass destruction as a principal reason for launching war on Iraq in March last year, but no such weapons were found. Earlier this month the United States pulled out from Iraq a 400-member military team specialising in the disposal of weapons of mass destruction, in what the New York Times said was “a sign that the administration might have lowered its sights” and viewed it as less likely that such weapons would be found. But the White House played down the move, saying that the group focused on hunting weapons was remaining in Iraq. 11 January 2004 sundayherald.com lurqer