- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.
forces near Baghdad found a weapons cache of around 20 medium-range missiles
equipped with potent chemical weapons, the U.S. news station National Public
Radio reported on Monday.
-
- NPR, which attributed the report to a top official with
the 1st Marine Division, said the rockets, BM-21 missiles, were equipped
with sarin and mustard gas and were "ready to fire." It quoted
the source as saying new U.S. intelligence data showed the chemicals were
"not just trace elements."
-
- It said the cache was discovered by Marines with the
101st Airborne Division, which was following up behind the Army after it
seized Baghdad's international airport.
-
- U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar had no immediate
comment.
-
- The United States and Britain launched the war against
Iraq to rid the country of weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies having
such weapons.
-
- © 2003 Reuters
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