BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Danish troops have found suspicious mortar shells in southern Iraq and officials are checking to see if they are chemical weapons, according to Coalition officials.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, a U.S. Army spokesman, said Saturday 30 to 40 120mm mortars containing liquid were discovered south of Al-Amara, north of Basra.

The shells are being examined, and Kimmitt said it is suspected that the ordnance could be left over from the Iran-Iraq war in the mid-1980s.

"Most were wrapped in plastic bags, and some were leaking," he added.

"The first inspections have shown that the mortars contain some liquid," said a Danish official in the city of Basra. "We don't now what sort of liquid or the age of the mortars."[...]