Troops 'find chemical weapons'

US forces in Iraq have found suspected chemical weapons, the Pentagon has said.

Preliminary tests on substances found at a military training camp in central Iraq suggest they contain several banned weapons, including nerve agents, military officials said.

Samples are now expected to be taken to the US for further tests.

Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division made the discovery on Sunday night.

The troops also found gas masks and chemical suits at the military complex.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cautioned that it would be some time before all the tests were completed.

"We have to take our time and look at it," he said.

"It takes days to get samples of things from wherever they are in the battlefield into the first place where they take a look and then a second place where they get checked.

"The prudent thing in a case like this is to let the thing play itself out. We'll eventually know."

General Ben Freakly of the 101st Airborne, said later that tests on substances at the camp and a separate agricultural site, both in the town of Albu Mahawish, could show they had a less sinister purpose.

"This could be either some kind of pesticide," the general  told CNN. "On the other hand it could be a chemical agent - not weaponised - a liquid agent that is in drums."

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