Kuwait has decided to inoculate its emergency services, national guard, army and police against small pox as a precautionary measure, civil defence chief Colonel Mustafa Shaban said.

The decision was taken after an assessment that in the event of a US-led war against Baghdad the country's emergency services may be called upon to deal with a NBC [nuclear, chemical and biological] retaliation from Iraq.

Although it is unlikely that Saddam has any nuclear weapons, Colonel Shaban said, "From what we hear, the Iraqis do have weapons of mass destruction. We are worried that Saddam does have small pox, anthrax and VX nerve agent."

A British ministry of defence team is currently in Kuwait teaching a three week course in how to deal with the after effects of a chemical attack.

A separate team of United States, German and Czech NBC experts has also established itself at the US military base of Camp Doha, north of Kuwait city.

Shaban said the British team had been instructing his staff what specific procedure to follow in the event of an NBC attack.

His deputy, Colonel Dr Musaed Al-Najar, a psychology with a Phd from Nottingham University explained, "We have been taught to divide a contaminated area into a hot zone, warm zone and cold zone. No one is allowed into the hot one without protective clothing.

"Casualties will be taken from the hot zone to the warm zone and then the cold zone where they are examined by medical, fire and civil defence experts. After helping to decontaminate them, they will be taken to hospitals. Our priorities are to learn from each other and not to wait until the actual crisis."

Shaban did not say how many doses of small pox inoculation had been ordered, but said it could be anywhere between 2,000 and 5,000.

His team has also been given 500 sets of protective clothing made of nylon and manufactured in the Czech Republic. Gloves and gas masks are supplied along with the protective clothing.

Shaban added that civil defence organisations across the Gulf had agreed to cooperate in the event of an NBC attack.