Shells found in Iraq free of chemical warfare agents

MORTAR shells found in Iraq did not contain any chemical warfare agents, the Danish army said yesterday.

Originally, the 36 shells were thought to contain a blister agent, but a week of tests in Iraq and in the United States at the US Department of Energy’s National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in Idaho proved negative.

The shells, found north of Basra, had initially been though to contain a blister agent after tests by Danish and British troops.