United Nations: Without authorisation from the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Washington transferred 1.8 tonnes of enriched uranium, which could be used for making a "dirty bomb," from an Iraqi facility to an undisclosed location in the United States.

The uranium was looted when the Americans left the facility unguarded but most of it was recovered by the Agency's inspectors as looters were more interested in containers than the uranium and just dumped it on the ground.

The uranium was kept under the seal of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before the American-led attack last year.

The United States did inform the IAEA that it plans to shift the material for security reasons but did not seek or was granted an authorization. The airlift was completed on June 23, five days before the American led Coalition Authority transferred the sovereignty to the Iraqi interim Government.

The shifting of the nuclear material without authorization of the United Nations could be illegal, some world body officials say.

The uranium was from the Tuwaitha nuclear facility, about 20 km South of Baghdad. It was once a premium Iraqi facility for development of nuclear weapons but was dismantled in 1990s after the first Gulf war. The facility is now under the control of the new Iraqi interim Government.