U.S. Army Says It Finds Shell with Sarin Agent in Iraq


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A small amount of the nerve agent sarin was found in a
shell that exploded in Iraq, the U.S. army said Monday in the first
announcement of discovery of any of the weapons on which Washington made its
case for war.



Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told a news conference the substance had been
found in an artillery shell inside a bag discovered by a U.S. convoy a few
days ago. The round had exploded, causing a small release of the substance,
he said.


"The Iraq Survey Group has confirmed today that a 155 (mm) artillery round
containing sarin nerve agent had been found. The round had been rigged as an
IED (improvised explosive device) that was discovered by a U.S. force
convoy," he said.


"A detonation occurred before the IED be could be rendered inoperable,"
Kimmitt said, adding that two members of an explosives team had been treated
for exposure to the substance.


Kimmitt said the round, designed to mix the sarin in flight, belonged to a
class of ordnance that the ousted government of Saddam Hussein claimed to
have destroyed before the 1991 Gulf war.


"It is a weapon that we believe was stocked from the ex-regime time, and it
had been thought to be an ordinary artillery shell set up to explode like an
ordinary IED... when it exploded it indicated that it actually had some
sarin in it," he said.


IEDs are bombs usually planted at the side of the road to explode as
coalition vehicles pass.


The United States launched its invasion of Iraq last year, accusing
then-president Saddam Hussein of developing chemical, biological and
possibly nuclear weapons. Failure to find such weapons has stirred criticism
in the United States and Britain, Washington's closest ally in the war.



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In February, 2003, Powell said that al Zaqarwi was an al Qaeda agent
operating in northeastern Iraq. We now know that is true, as he's the one
currently organizing the attacks against US and Iraqi troops. Powell also
mentioned something about WMD's, didn't he? Seems he was right about that
one as well.