US probe into missing Iraqi nuclear equipment

The US has said that it will conduct “a full investigation” along with the Iraqi government of the reported disappearance from Iraq’s nuclear facilities of high-precision equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

In a letter to the Security Council on Monday, UN nuclear chief Mohamed El Baradei said satellite photos and follow-up investigations show “widespread and apparently systematic dismantlement” at sites related to Iraq’s nuclear program which had been subject to monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog.