Looking for Iraqi weapons would be a waste of time - Rumsfeld

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld strongly doubts sending new UN weapons inspectors to Iraq would be worth the effort - a view not officially shared by the State Department.

Speaking yesterday about the prospect of resuming efforts to look for evidence that Iraq is illicitly developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, Rumsfeld said he thinks Baghdad would inevitably find ways to deny access or deceive the inspectors.