“Teams of technical experts, now preparing enter Iraq, are on a search and destroy mission – to find and secure Saddam Hussein’s alleged chemical and biological weapons. They are likely to follow closely behind the US and UK ground troops who entered Iraq on Thursday.

Former UN weapons inspector Charles Duelfer is preparing for service with the teams. He told New Scientist from Kuwait that “finding the weapons themselves may well take some time – unless of course, some are used”.

The “mobile exploitation teams” are being organised by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the part of the US Department of Defense that handles weapons inspections under treaties, and helps destroy old Soviet weapons. New Scientist

Related: US Checking Several Possible Chemical Sites:

“U.S. forces pressed to find the first cache of Saddam Hussein’s chemical and biological weapons, seizing a suspected chemical factory in southern Iraq and checking other sites based on leads from captured Iraqis and documents.

Officials cautioned it was premature to conclude any forbidden weapons had been located.” The Star (Malaysia)

Thre’s more: US Interviewing POWs to Find Chemical Sites:

“The U.S. military is moving quickly to interrogate more than 2,000 Iraqi POWs — including two generals — for information about the location of chemical and biological weapons.

But so far, no tips have led U.S. forces to uncover any of Saddam Hussein’s deadliest weapons. ” USA Today

And:

Chemical weapon find report ‘premature’: US

Reports that US troops have found a suspected chemical factory in Iraq were “premature”, the Pentagon said today.

Officials were trying to determine whether the plant, near the city of An Najaf, which US troops reached today on a push to Baghdad, was involved in making chemical weapons, officials said.
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Meanwhile, Ewen Buchanan, spokesman for UN weapons inspectors, said the weapons inspectors are not aware of any large-scale chemical sites which could be used to make chemical weapons in An Najaf. However, there are many such dual-use sites in other parts of the country because of Iraq’s petrochemical industry.” Sydney Morning Herald