<A scandal of immense proportions may soon develop:

BBC: US arms experts 'leaving Iraq'

KEY QUOTES:

"The 75th Exploitation Task Force is dismantling its operations for a likely departure in June, says the newspaper, after the group failed to find any biological and chemical weapons."

"Members of the team told the newspaper that they no longer expected to find such stocks, and that they had consistently found targets identified by Washington to be inaccurate, or to have been looted and burned."

"US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had used the alleged threat posed by Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction as the main justification for waging war."

"Correspondents say that while the failure to discover such weapons may not matter to many Americans, in Europe - where many people strongly opposed the war - the issue is likely to become a political one."