New York - Former United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq have discovered traces of chemical substances, including the poisonous gas phosgene, in their office in New York and have called on US authorities to investigate, a spokeswoman said Thursday. "There is no immediate risk or dangers and the UNMOVIC staff is still working on the premise," UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.
She said the liquid substances were found suspended in oil in a small container in the office's inventory and weapons inspectors screened the area and found no toxic vapour.
Phosgene is a poisonous gas and major industrial chemical used to make plastics and pesticides. It is converted into liquid for shipping and storage.
Inspectors of the UN monitoring agency known as UNMOVIC were charged with finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the US-led military invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and compiled a huge archive of materials found in Iraq and brought back to New York for study.
Okabe said the UN informed the US Federal Bureau of Investigation of the discovery and the FBI sent agents to investigate.
