Baghdad: US Marines on April 13 reported finding five canisters with a substance
testing positive for chemical agents but backed off a claim of finding 278 suspect
artillery shells.
Officers with the Marine's 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, said the canisters were
found on April 12 in a Baghdad schoolyard among large stocks of
ammunition.
Corporal Chad Arva, a chemicals analysis specialist, said the contents of the
canisters "tested positive three times for blister agents".
But battalion officers backed off an earlier claim that they had found likely
blister agents in 278 artillery shells.
The report had come from the battalion's operations officer, Major Stephen Armes,
and his commander, Lieutenant Colonel Fred Padilla. But they later said they had
been mistaken.
No further details were available on the five canisters.
