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British and American officials were furious that Mr Blix had failed to mention Iraq's "Project 101" when he addressed the Security Council last Friday.

Details of the scheme suggested Iraq had sought to produce cluster munitions filled with biological and chemical agents to be scattered across battlefields. The project was referred to in the detail of the inspector's written report. The hollow metal balls, and fuses Iraq is known to possess, were ideally suited for dispersing agents across large areas, a US official told the New York Times.

"When these things come out from the main frame and they explode inward, chemical agents come out," he said. "These can be used for biological weapons too."

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"Unmovic has credible information that the total quantity of BW [biological warfare] agents in bombs, warheads and in bulk at the time of the Gulf war was 7,000 litres more than declared," the report said. It dismisses Iraq's claims to have destroyed its stocks of the agent 10 years ago.

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The report also says Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein continues to deceive inspectors about the fate of chemical and biological weapons, including deadly anthrax.

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"He managed not to mention a new missile type, and a drone, which are clear smoking guns, and he ignored pages of evidence with dozens of examples of Iraqi noncompliance in every facet of their [weapons of mass destruction] programs."

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"The single most devastating discovery that the inspectors have come across was omitted from Blix's verbal discussion at the U.N.," said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Buster Glosson, who designed the Operation Desert Storm air war during the 1991 Persian Gulf campaign and has written a book, "War with Iraq: Critical Lessons."
"They hid it in the back pages of their report, that being the drones and bombs that have the capacity of dispensing biological and chemical weapons."
On the drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, the written report said, "Recent inspections have also revealed the existence of a drone with a wingspan of 7.45 [meters] that has not been declared by Iraq."
Iraq contends its L-29 drone can travel only 30 miles. But Unmovic says the system can fly more than 95 miles, in violation of U.N. resolutions, and is designed to carry tanks that can spray biological and chemical weapons.

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On the cluster munition, the written report said that video at a test center, Haidar Farms, "shows ... personnel conducting tests of a cluster bomb that appears to utilize submunitions based, in part, on 122-mm warhead components.
"Iraq has been vague as to exactly how many field tests with 122-mm rocket warheads occurred and the number of warheads involved," the report says. It also disputes Iraqi assertions, such as the following:
* It destroyed thousands of gallons of anthrax.
Baghdad did not return biological agents to their home facilities after deploying them in the 1991 war.
"It ... seems highly probable that the destruction of bulk agent, including anthrax, stated by Iraq to be at Al Hakam in July/August 1991, did not occur," the report says. "Based on all the available evidence, the strong presumption is that about 10,000 liters of anthrax was not destroyed and may still exist."
* It destroyed 15 biological warheads. The report says Iraq's assertions conflicted with physical evidence collected at the supposed destruction site.
"This suggests that some special warheads were retained for a period and, if so, it would be logical to assume that some missiles and associated propellant might also have been retained," the report states.

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