Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Iraqi forces and U.S. Marines searching a mosque in Fallujah ``discovered the largest weapons cache to date'' in the city, where the coalition has been carrying out an assault on insurgents, the military said.

The stockpile was found yesterday in and around the compound of the Sa'ad Abi Bin Waqas Mosque in the Hey Al-Shorta District, according to a military statement e-mailed from the capital, Baghdad. The building was used by Muslim cleric Abdullah al-Janabi, leader of the city's rebels, to preach ``anti-coalition rhetoric,'' the military said.

The number of weapons recovered in the complex is ``stunning,'' and is ``enough to mount an insurgency across the country,'' the Associated Press cited Marines Lieutenant Colonel Dan Wilson as saying without specify the size of the cache. A chemical-weapons laboratory also was found, Reuters reported, citing Iraqi Security Minister Kassim Daoud.

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- david | 5:30 PM