The CIA man leading the so-far futile search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is thinking of resigning, a Washington source said today.
Former United Nations weapons inspector Mr David Kay, named by the CIA in June to lead the search for chemical, nuclear and biological weapons, returned to the United States last week and US intelligence official said he was considering stepping down. Mr Kay has not commented on the reports.
His appointment, and the creation of his operation, the Iraq Survey Group, was supposed to be the key to finding the weapons Iraq long denied having.
During a visit yesterday to Mr Kay's headquarters in Baghdad, a senior military officer with the weapons hunt tried to offer assurances their work was continuing.
US intelligence officials in Washington said the search would continue and there is the possibility that new leads could come from the interrogation of Saddam Hussein, captured last Saturday.
A nine-month search for the weapons of mass destruction that US president George Bush said he went to war to destroy has been conducted by a succession of US teams that have all failed to find any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.