The United Nations nuclear watchdog expressed concern today at the removal of equipment and ”significant dismantling” at 37 key sites in Iraq previously monitored for potential nuclear activity.

Explosives were looted from the Al-Qaqaa ammunitions site in Iraq while outnumbered US troops assigned to guard the materials watched helplessly, soldiers told the Los Angeles Times today.

US President George Bush and election challenger John Kerry were entering a final breathless weekend of campaigning today, ahead of Tuesday’s election.

An armed group claimed today to have obtained a huge amount of explosives missing from a munitions depot in Iraq and warned that it will use them if foreign troops threaten cities.

Several hundred tons of conventional explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that once played a key role in Saddam Hussein’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb, the UN nuclear watchdog said today.