"What they found to date -- I cannot discuss it -- but it confirms in my mind beyond any doubt whatsoever, that this man did possess the capability to build, put together and possibly had weapons standing by that he could have used," Warner, who visited Iraq last week, said on NBC television's "Meet the Press" program.

Warner, who also sits on the senate's intelligence committee which is conducting a review of US pre-war intelligence on Iraq, vowed that Saddam's weapons "will eventually be discovered and shown to the world."

Despite months of searching, US teams that have yet to discover chemical, nuclear or biological weapons alleged to have been harbored by Iraq.

Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction was President George W. Bush's prime rationale for launching an invasion of Iraq on March 20.

WAR.WIRE