US assessing reports of sarin gas in Iraq

It would be the first time any chemical weapon has been found in Iraq since the United States led an invasion of that country 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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Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other US officials in Washington and Baghdad said on Monday that initial field tests indicated that the 155mm shell contained sarin.

"Additional testing will be done outside of Iraq, more detailed testing. But the initial tests in the field show the presence of sarin," one US official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters in Washington.

"Whether the person who rigged it up as an IED (improvised explosive device) knew what they had or not is open to question," the official added.

The discovery represented the possibility of good and bad news for the Bush administration -- good that it could support long-unproven claims that Iraq possessed such weapons during the lead-up to the war, and bad that attempts are being made to use the weapons against US occupiers.

US Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told a news conference in Iraq that the substance had been found in an artillery shell inside a bag discovered by a US convoy a few days ago. The round had exploded, causing a small release of the substance, he said.