If laboratory tests confirm the presence of sarin, that finding may not tell us much about whether Saddam Hussein retained a hidden chemical arsenal after supposedly destroying it.
We have begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons, and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated.
In a speech last week, President Bush said, "We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons, and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated".
Meanwhile, most other Arab states, led by Egypt, have refused to sign, citing Israel's refusal to sign the NPT.Devilish brewIf searching out hidden chemical weapons is like looking for a needle in a haystack, trying to track a hidden biological-weapons programme is like looking for the eye of a needle in a haystack.
An exile-based dissident group, the Syrian National Coalition, called Tuesday on the international monitoring team to also investigate "Assad's hidden chemical weapons stockpile".
The findings will raise further concerns about the hidden toxicity of chemicals deemed safe by toxicology tests.
Some fear that if the colonel thinks his fate is sealed he may embark on an orgy of destruction, perhaps deploying hidden stocks of chemical weapons.The NTC appears to be placing its hopes on a general uprising in Tripoli as living conditions deteriorate and people realise the colonel is finished.
And what we heard from Grangemouth's Labour MP, Michael Connarty, is that the UK government is failing to match other government's "hidden subsidies" to chemical industries, such as those in Germany.
X. tropicalis would therefore appear to be an excellent amphibian model for in-depth studies on the more hidden effects of chemical contaminants, particularly BaP, on the female liver at different biological levels.
