Iraq warns of 'heaviest losses' if US attacks

UN arms inspectors fanned out yesterday to eight sites suspected of involvement in the making of banned weapons, as an Iraqi Cabinet minister warned the United States of "the heaviest losses" if it attacks.

The sites visited included an engineering company owned by the state Military Industry Corporation, a military chemical unit west of the capital Baghdad, an oil research centre, an electronics factory that produces components such as transistors and a medical research centre.

The US accuses Iraq of stockpiling mass destruction weapons and says it will use force if necessary to disarm Iraq if the Arab nation does not fully cooperate with the inspectors.