The mysterious tunnels of Iraq are said to stretch for scores of miles under the Iraqi capital, linking palaces, military strongholds and safe houses for leaders, treasure or weapons of mass destruction.

United Nations weapons inspectors were today making their way through a sprawling complex where Iraqi scientists once worked on a nuclear bomb.

International nuclear monitors struck out across the Iraqi desert today, heading for a remote uranium mining site, officials in Baghdad said.

Iraq’s report on chemical, biological and nuclear programmes will not include any admission that Baghdad still maintains weapons of mass destruction, a senior Iraqi official said today.