Arms hunter to tell congress no Iraqi WMD found

WASHINGTON - The new chief US weapons hunter in Iraq will tell lawmakers this week in his first congressional briefings that his teams have not found any banned arms, but it is too early to reach conclusions and the search will continue, US officials said on Monday.

Charles Duelfer was appointed in January by the CIA to replace David Kay, who after stepping down as chief weapons hunter said he believed there were no large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons in Iraq when the United States invaded in 2003.

That unleashed a flurry of accusations from critics that President Bush and his administration exaggerated the threat from Iraq to gather support for war.

The question of whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction has been a key issue leading up to the November presidential election, as Democrats seek to unseat Bush.

Duelfer will brief the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors on Tuesday about his initial impressions of the hunt for unconventional weapons after six weeks in Iraq. He will brief House of Representatives committees later in the week.

"There is much work that needs still to be done, it is premature for anyone to leap to conclusions, and they continue to get good leads which require investigation," a US official said about the likely message from Duelfer.

Also testifying will be Major General Keith Dayton, who heads the Defence Department's Iraq Survey Group -- about 1,200 to 1,400 personnel -- which conducts the hunt for unconventional weapons under Duelfer's guidance.

Teams still go to suspected sites when they get information about potential areas related to weapons of mass destruction, or WMD. The hunt for banned weapons does not have a deadline and was expected to continue through the end of this year.

US officials have been discussing how the weapons search will be affected by the mid-year handover of sovereignty to Iraqis, an official said.

Kay had said it would probably become more difficult for US forces to get access to people for interviews after the transfer to Iraqis.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq