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.

The father of Iraq’s nuclear programme said his nation would have developed atomic weapons in the early 1990s had Saddam Hussein not ordered the invasion of Kuwait.

The UN nuclear watchdog expressed concern yesterday at the disappearance of high-precision equipment from Iraq’s nuclear facilities that could be used to make nuclear weapons.