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UN arms inspectors on Thursday found 11 empty chemical warheads at an ammunition storage in their daily hunting for banned weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, a UN spokesman reported.
The UN inspectors "discovered 11 empty 122 mm chemical warheads and one warhead that requires further evaluation" when they were visiting "the Ukhaider Ammunition Storage Area to inspect a large group of bunkers constructed in the late 1990's," Hiro Ueki said ina statement.
"The warheads were in excellent condition and were similar to ones imported by Iraq during the late 1980's," he said.
"The team used portable X-Ray equipment to conduct a preliminary analysis of one of the warheads and collected samples for chemical testing," the spokesman added.
The United States accuses Iraq of secretly developing weapons of mass destruction and is pouring tens of thousands of troops into the Gulf region to back up its threats to disarm Baghdad by force.
While denying US allegation that it has prohibited weapons, Iraq has accepted UN Security Council Resolution 1441 that provides for a tougher weapons inspection regime in the country.
The UN weapons experts resumed their hunting for prohibited weapons of mass destruction in Iraq on Nov. 27 after a four-year suspension and have so far searched about 400 suspected sites.
(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2003)
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