Guns haul at London embassy

A cache of weapons has been found at the Iraqi embassy in London. The haul, which includes submachineguns, handguns and espionage listening devices, was discovered in safes at the building, which is currently disused.

They are believed to have been kept by officials associated with Saddam Hussein's regime who hurriedly abandoned the Knightsbridge embassy just before the Iraq invasion began in 2003.

The guns were found when the new Iraqi ambassador, Dr Salah Al Shaikhly, recently reopened the site. A Scotland Yard spokesman said the Met had been called in by embassy officials and recovered several weapons which were taken away for examination.

No arrests have been made as investigations continue.

The police spokesman said: "The current Iraqi authorities informed police of the discovery of a number of firearms found within their premises in south-west London.

"They co-operated fully with UK authorities, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and a number of firearms were subsequently recovered. Our investigations are continuing."

When the new ambassador to Britain arrived and opened up the building he found it had been ransacked by burglars. But the intruders had failed to crack a number of safes in the building and the cache of weapons was found in one of these.

The building remains empty but work on its renovation is expected to start soon and it will eventually be returned to use as Iraq's embassy.