British troops think they may have finally found the smoking gun, writes Jack Fairweather
A soldier held up the plastic capsule nervously.
Inside a 3-inch long container was a colourless solution designed to absorb the contents of a smaller glass phial containing white powder.
Looking suspiciously like the phial Colin Powell had held up with great dramatic effect at the United Nations in January to demonstrate how the smallest of doses of chemical or biological weapons could have devastating consequences, it had clearly agitated the soldier who had found it.
Printed on the front was the date of manufacture: April, 1987.
"That's just when the Iraqis were gassing the Kurds," said the soldier, signalling his officer over at a militia compound on the outskirts of Basra.
"I believe it's just Saddam's talcum powder double wrapped for safety," said the officer jovially. "But whatever you do, don't drop it," he added.
Yesterday, a search patrol of A squadron, Queen's Dragoon Guards, found what could be the first piece of evidence to suggest that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction.
Discovered in an Iraqi stronghold amid a pile of old clothing, the capsule, with its unknown substance, appeared to have been left in haste by militiamen following a successful attack on the compound by the squadron.
The militia could be seen carrying other boxes and bags into their vehicles as they came under fire before fleeing in the direction of Basra.
"They seemed more concerned with getting out what was in the building than fighting," said Capt Nick Brown, who led the attack.
At squadron headquarters, commanding officer Major Matthew Botsford said calmly: "Gentlemen, I think we might have found the smoking gun."
An initial examination of the container confirmed his fears as two Fuch nuclear, chemical and biological tanks were requested from the nearby headquarters of the Royal Tank Regiment.
Medic Mark Townend, attached to the squadron, said: "It could contain a chemical agent or it could contain an antidote. Whatever it is, the people who knew what was in the phial would only open it under laboratory conditions. We should be very, very careful."
The find of the possible anthrax or VX powder comes amid increasing evidence that Iraq's regime has made preparations for chemical warfare as British units begin to shift the wreckage left by retreating Iraqi soldiers and militiamen.
Last week a number of gas masks and NBC suits were found at another militia stronghold, along with detailed pamphlets of what to do in the event of a chemical attack.
At another compound, euphemistically called Butlin's by local commanders, a sign within a barrack complex read "Chemical Sortie Point" in scrawling Arabic writing.
The evidence is amounting to what senior British officers are calling a "comprehensive map" of the Iraqi regime's chemical warfare capability.
An officer said: "We're slowly piecing together the picture that has been hidden for 12 years from the United Nations weapon inspectors.
"We've never doubted that Saddam Hussein has hidden weapons of mass destruction and it's only a question of time before we find them," he said.
But despite the possible threat, few gas alerts have sounded since Allied forces entered Iraq, and soldiers have adopted a more relaxed regime to the carrying of gas masks.
"He'd have used them by now if he had them, wouldn't he?" said one soldier, "but having said that I wouldn't want to be in Baghdad when the Americans enter."