[Excerpt: Weapons caches, many in the south of Falluja - the last area taken
by the marines - were often marked by a brick suspended on a piece of string
outside a house, they added....The amount of weapons was in no way just to
protect a city," said Maj Jim West, a Marine intelligence officer...."There was
enough to mount an insurgency across the country," he added....Earlier, Iraqi
Minister of State Kassim Daoud told a news conference: "Soldiers from the Iraqi
National Guard found a chemical laboratory that was used to prepare deadly
explosives and poisons....."They also found in the lab booklets and
instructions
on how to make bombs and poisons. They even talked about the production of
anthrax."]
Last Updated: Thursday, 25 November, 2004, 14:42 GMT
http://212.58.240.132/1/hi/world/middle_east/4041235.stm
'Stunning' arms haul in Falluja
US marines combing the Iraqi city of Falluja after a major offensive say they
found weapons stocks sufficient to mount an insurgency across the country.
The "stunning" finds included mortars, bomb-making equipment, grenades and
rockets, officials said.
The biggest haul was made at a mosque complex in the east of the city.
Soldiers also found a house which contained a laboratory and instructions on
how to make anthrax and blood agents, the US military told the BBC.
US marines say it may be several weeks before civilians who fled the city can
return. Following the US-led offensive, the city remains without power or
water.
The discoveries came as hundreds of British troops from the Black Watch took
part in a fresh offensive against suspected Saddam Hussein loyalists living on
the bank of the Euphrates river in central Iraq.
In other developments:
* US officials say they found five new bodies, including the corpses of
some Iraqi soldiers, in the northern city of Mosul - the scene of a recent
upsurge in attacks
* Police in southern Iraq arrest five suspected foreign fighters - two
Saudis, two Tunisians and one Libyan - they claim were planning to mount
attacks
in Basra.
'Foreign fighters' centre'
Marine commanders said troops moving from house to house had discovered large
numbers of weapons stores, including stocks of up to 700 mortar shells.
Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy cannon
have also been found throughout the city, officers said.
Weapons caches, many in the south of Falluja - the last area taken by the
marines - were often marked by a brick suspended on a piece of string outside a
house, they added.
Iraqi Red Crescent convoy waits at entrance to Falluja, 24 Nov 2004
Aid organisations need to assess how many need help in Falluja
"The amount of weapons was in no way just to protect a city," said Maj Jim
West, a Marine intelligence officer.
"There was enough to mount an insurgency across the country," he added.
Earlier, Iraqi Minister of State Kassim Daoud told a news conference:
"Soldiers from the Iraqi National Guard found a chemical laboratory that
was used to
prepare deadly explosives and poisons.
"They also found in the lab booklets and instructions on how to make bombs
and poisons. They even talked about the production of anthrax."
'Hotbed'
The US has claimed Falluja was a centre for foreign fighters who had come to
Iraq to fight the coalition.
Earlier this week Iraq's interim defence minister said 60 Arab fighters were
among those arrested in Falluja.
The Americans claim to have killed at least 1,000 Iraqis in the Falluja
assault launched two and a half weeks ago.
More than 50 marines died and more than 400 were wounded.
The number of Iraqi civilians killed and injured when they were caught up in
the fighting is still not known.
The Iraqi Red Crescent said on Thursday it had managed to deliver food aid,
and that its volunteers would stay to help bury the dead and evacuate families
still trapped in Falluja.
enditem
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