The UK Independent reports American and British military and intelligence services are tracking the movement of 3 cargo ships that have been cruising around the Indian Ocean which may be carrying Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

American and British military forces are believed to be reluctant to stop and search the vessels for fear that any intervention might result in them being scuttled. If they were carrying chemical and biological weapons, or fissile nuclear material, and they were to be sunk at sea, the environmental damage could be catastrophic.

Are these ships hiding weapons from the inspectors?

John Eldridge, editor of Jane's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence, said Saddam Hussein would have been "extremely sensible" to hide weapons at sea.

This doesn't seem likely. Iraq is a big place. Saddam has plenty of places to hide weapons in Iraq. Maybe the ships are weapons development labs. Or perhaps they are carrying weapons that are to be used to strike the US and its allies if Iraq is attacked.