World Notes IRAQ

President Saddam Hussein's quest to turn Iraq into the Middle East's military superpower continues. British customs officials at the northeastern port city of Middlesbrough seized eight Iraq-bound crates that contained what Defense Ministry experts say could be the barrel of the world's largest cannon, capable of firing conventional, nuclear and chemical shells.

Both Baghdad and the firm in Sheffield, England, that manufactured the steel casting claim it is part of a pipeline for an Iraqi petrochemical plant. But defense experts say the casting may be the cannon's barrel, which would be 131 ft. long with a 39-in. bore, weigh 140 tons and be capable of firing a 1-to-3- ton shell up to 900 miles -- within range of most Middle East capitals.