WASHINGTON - The U.S. search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq will carry on despite a failure so far to find banned chemical, biological or nuclear arms, the chief arms hunter has told the U.S. Congress.

Charles Duelfer, in remarks prepared for delivery at a closed hearing of the Senate Arms Services Committee, said on Tuesday the mission would expand to try to determine whether former President Saddam Hussein was actively pursuing the development of banned arms.

The new direction reflects the Bush administration's evolving public rationale for the war on Iraq.

Initially, it said an invasion was necessary to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction Iraq possessed and was prepared to use. With no weapons stockpiles uncovered, the White House now says the war was justified by Saddam's alleged intent to build and use such weaponry.

"It is critically important for us to understand the intentions of the regime as we seek to put the various research, development, and production activities into context," said Duelfer, appointed by the CIA in January to oversee the hunt for banned weapons.

"We must determine what Saddam ordered, what his ministers ordered, and how the plans fit together," Duelfer said. "Were weapons hidden that were not readily available? Was there a plan for a break-out production capacity?" The appearance was the first time he has briefed lawmakers since taking the job.

Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay, said as he stepped down in January that he did not believe Iraq had large stockpiles of banned weapons when U.S. forces invaded Iraq last year.

But Duelfer told Congress he was determined to keep hunting and was unsure how much longer his investigation would take.

"Let me state at the outset that I do not believe we have sufficient information and insight to make final judgments with confidence at this time," Duelfer said. "Interim assessments could turn out to be misleading or wrong."

The Defence Department's Iraq Survey Group, which is conducting the hunt, continues to search suspect sites and regularly receives reports about "concealed caches," Duelfer said.

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