"I have reason, every reason, to believe that the intelligence that we were operating off was correct and that we will, in fact, find weapons or evidence of weapons, programs, that are conclusive," Rumsfeld told reporters at a Pentagon press briefing.

"It's just a matter of time," he said. "It's now less than eight weeks since the end of major combat in Iraq and I believe that patience will prove to be a virtue."

Concerns have been rising worldwide that the arsenal of weapons of mass destruction described by the Bush administration has not been found in more than 10 weeks after the war that toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

US lawmakers have also called for an investigation into whether or not top US officials exaggerated the threat from Iraq's banned weapons programs to win US congressional approval to go to war.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2003)