Chemical weapon deployed in Iraq

[madape]

Roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent explodes
5/17/2004 11:31 AM
By: Associated Press

Baghdad, Iraq-(AP) -- A roadside bomb containing the nerve agent sarin is the first confirmed finding of a banned weapon in Iraq.

The U.S. military says the sarin was contained in an artillery round that exploded near a U.S. convoy in Baghdad. The chief military spokesman in Iraq says "a very small" amount of sarin was released and two soldiers suffered minor injuries.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt says he believes the insurgents who rigged the shell as a bomb didn't know it contained sarin. Many of the materials used for roadside bombs are believed to have been looted from arsenals after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003.

Saddam claimed to have destroyed his chemical and biological weapons. The United States based its case for war on the presence of banned weapons.

A single drop of sarin can cause quick and agonizing death. But Kimmitt says very little of the nerve agent can be dispersed in a device such as a roadside bomb.

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