THE secret Iraqi drone that United Nations weapons inspectors apparently hid from the UN Security Council could threaten foreign countries with chemical weapons.

Diplomatic sources have told The Times that the drone is believed to be the same one that was mentioned by Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, in his intelligence briefing of the Security Council on February 5.

In the briefing, he said that the United States had watched an unmanned Iraqi aircraft test-flown for 500km (310 miles) non-stop in a racetrack (oval) pattern. He said that Iraqi drones, fitted with spraying devices, could threaten not only Iraq’s neighbours but also, if transported, America with chemical and biological weapons.

UN sources say that the drone was found by a team led by a British inspector and the reason that it was not mentioned in the oral presentation to Foreign Ministers by Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, was that more information was being sought.

The failure to declare it is causing quiet fury among British and US diplomats. General Powell revealed the simmering American anger at the way in which Dr Blix had presented his third report to the Security Council on Friday when he said: “I think he could have said a lot more about Iraqi non-compliance.”

An appendix published by Dr Blix on Friday — but referred to only sparingly during his oral presentation — included reference to the drone. General Powell said that Dr Blix could have made much more of such Iraqi defiance, adding: “But I don’t write his script.”

There was similar irritation at the clean bill of health that was given to Iraq by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Condoleezza Rice, Mr Bush’s National Security Adviser, said that the IAEA had missed clues to Iraq’s efforts to develop nuclear capability in 1991, 1995 and 1998 and was in danger of missing similar clues to present Iranian efforts to build a bomb.

In a series of appearances on the influential Sunday television talkshows in the United States, General Powell told NBC’s Meet the Press: “Right now, the IAEA is discovering, as a result of information that intelligence made available, that Iran has a far more robust programme for the development of nuclear weapons than the IAEA thought.”

Dr Blix told the Foreign Ministers: “Inspectors are also engaged in examining Iraq’s programme for Remotely Piloted Vehicles. A number of sites have been inspected with data being collected to assess the range and other capabilities of the various models found. Inspections are continuing in this area.”

There was no mention of the discovery of the drone in a 167-page draft report brandished by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and General Powell in the Security Council on Friday. But in the updated 173-page report distributed after the meeting, observant British and US diplomats found the bombshell on page 14.

“Recent inspections have also revealed the existence of a drone with a wingspan of 7.45 metres that has not been declared by Iraq,” the report said. “Officials at the inspection site stated that the drone had been test-flown. Further investigation is required to establish the actual specifications and capabilities of these RPVs.”

Drones are restricted by the same UN rules as missiles, which limit their range to 150km (93 miles). But last November the Security Council demanded in Resolution 1441 that Iraq should declare all drones, no matter their range.

Britain and the US raised the discovery of the drone with Dr Blix in a closed-door Security Council session on Friday night.

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