Initial Positive Chemical Tests Discounted
N E A R B A Y J I, Iraq, April 28 -- It's now believed that more than a dozen 55-gallon drums found in northern Iraq might contain rocket fuel — not the dangerous chemicals first suspected after two days of tests.
Lt. Col. Valentin Novikov, the chief chemical weapons officer of the 4th Infantry Division, the unit which found the site, told The Associated Press that new tests were conducted on one of the drums.
The results raised the prospect that this find would just be the latest in the series of false alarms in U.S. effort to prove Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.
More tests on the unmarked barrels found near Bayji, about 130 miles north of Baghdad are planned in the coming days.
Earlier today, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons specialists from the Army's 5th Corps examined them, and tentatively concluded that there were no chemical weapons there, the leader of the team told a New York Times reporter embedded with the team.
"Our tests showed no positive hits at all," Capt. Ryan Cutchin, the leader of Mobile Exploitation Team Bravo told the Times.
The suspect site also included missiles, warheads and vehicles that were suspected to be mobile laboratories for banned weapons, but Cutchin said the vehicles were "probably for decontamination or some kind of fuel filling, consistent with the rockets found at the site."
Using high-tech gear unavailable to experts from another Army squad, Mobile Exploration Team (MET) Bravo — whose preliminary tests over the weekend identified a nerve agent and a blister agent — tests came up negative.
By design, initial test procedures favor positive readings, erring on the side of caution to protect soldiers.
The investigators searching for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been frustrated by a lack of information and say they are understaffed and under-equipped.
Wary of False Alarms
Even before MET Bravo conducted tests on Sunday, at least one member of the team, which is responsible for moving samples of suspicious substances for laboratory analysis, was convinced the containers contained rocket fuel, not chemical weapons, sources told ABCNEWS.
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