"I accept we are under some sort of public obligation to try and find those weapons of mass destruction," Hoon told ITV television station.

"We are continuing in our efforts to do so. You and other members of the public quite rightly want to know where those weapons are," the defence secretary said of the alleged biological, chemical or nuclear arms, still elusive seven months after the fall of Baghdad to American-led troops.

"All I can say to you at this stage is that we are looking for them," Hoon said.

"It is important to the public we demonstrate the intelligence provided to us before the conflict was accurate," he added, in reference to public scepticism over whether there ever were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

A poll released October 26 said more than 40 percent of Britons believe Prime Minister Tony Blair -- the strongest backer of the American-instigated war -- had deliberately distorted information on the alleged weapons.

WAR.WIRE