US finds suspected chemical weapons

PRELIMINARY tests on substances found at a military training camp in central Iraq suggest they may contain a cocktail of banned chemical weapons, including deadly nerve agents, US officers said last night.

Major Michael Hamlet of the US 101st Airborne Division said the initial tests revealed levels of nerve agents sarin and tabun, as well as the blister agent lewisite.

Hamlet said a team of experts would carry out further tests today on the substances. They were discovered at the camp in Albu Mahawish on the Euphrates river, between the central Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Hilla, site of ancient Babylon.