Inspectors say WMDs not found in Iraq

Intelligence chiefs will tell Tony Blair next month that they have found evidence of illegal weapons programmes in Iraq, but not the weapons themselves.

British and American inspectors in the Iraq Survey Group will report to the joint intelligence committee, which will assess the evidence and pass it to Downing Street.

Insiders told The Economist magazine that the findings would include fresh evidence, obtained from Iraqi scientists, that biological weapons had been produced. There is also understood to be evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime deliberat e ly concealed weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Blair could use the intelligence to publish a new dossier in time for the Labour conference next month.

Issuing such a document could head off anti-war critics and counter charges that Mr Blair misled the country over the threat posed by Saddam.

It could also make up for Downing Street's disappointment that no weapons have been found. However, the controversy over the last two dossiers may deter Mr Blair from repeating the exercise.