US used white phosphorus in Iraq ... earlier denied it had been used in Falluja at all ... not a signatory of an international treaty

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US used white phosphorus in Iraq: "Tuesday, 15 November 2005,

The Pentagon has confirmed that US troops used white phosphorus during last year's offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Falluja.

"It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," spokesman Lt Col Barry Venable told the BBC - though not against civilians, he said.

The US earlier denied it had been used in Falluja at all.

Col Venable denied that the substance - which can cause burning of the flesh - constituted a banned chemical weapon.

Washington is not a signatory of an international treaty restricting the use of white phosphorus devices. ...