from former Iraqi base VIENNA, Austria, Oct 25, SPA -- Several hundred tons ofconventional explosives are missing from a former Iraqimilitary facility that once played a key role in SaddamHussein's efforts to build a nuclear bomb, the U.N. nuclearagency confirmed Monday. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradeiwill report the materials' disappearance to the U.N.Security Council later Monday, spokeswoman Melissa Flemingtold The Associated Press. "On Oct. 10, the IAEA received a declaration from theIraqi Ministry of Science and Technology informing us thatapproximately 350 tons of high explosive material had gonemissing," Fleming said. The Iraqis told the agency the materials had been stolenand looted because of a lack of security at governmentalinstallations, Fleming said. "We do not know what happened to the explosives or whenthey were looted," she told AP. Nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives that could be usedto build large conventional bombs are missing from theformer Al Qaqaa military installation, The New York Timesreported Monday. The explosives included HMX and RDX, which can be used todemolish buildings but also produce warheads for missilesand detonate nuclear weaponry, the newspaper said. It saidthey disappeared after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq lastyear. U.S. President George W. Bush's national security adviser,Condoleeza Rice, was informed of the missing explosives inthe past month, the report said. It said Iraq's interimgovernment recently warned the United States and U.N.nuclear inspectors that the explosives had vanished. Before the war, inspectors with the Vienna-basedInternational Atomic Energy Agency had kept tabs on theso-called "dual use" explosives because they could havebeen used to detonate a nuclear weapon.--SPA1236 Local Time 0936 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/213175