Saddam Hussein has unexpectedly removed from power his long-standing oil minister, General Amer Mohammad Rasheed.

The official reason for General Rasheed's removal was that he was beyond Iraq's mandatory retirement age of 63.

But experts were questioning whether the sudden departure of General Rasheed was connected to the role of his wife, Dr Rihab Taha.

Rihab Taha earned the name Dr Germ from weapons inspectors

Dr Taha is known to be near the top of a list of biological weapons scientists the UN inspectors are trying to interview.

It is also alleged that General Rasheed has himself been involved in secret weapons manufacturing in the past.

His removal comes as the US prepares for possible military action against Iraq.

One of the aims would be to destroy any capability for Iraqi manufacturing of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.

Anthrax risk

The 47-year-old Dr Taha is thought to have carried out work on germs that cause botulism poisoning and anthrax infections at the top-secret biological research laboratory al-Hakim in the late 1980s.

At this time, she was reported to have ordered and received biological specimens from US companies.

She gained her doctorate after studying plant disease in the UK.

Later she earned the name Dr Germ from weapons inspectors who interviewed her in the mid-1990s.

Party member promoted

General Rasheed will be replaced by a senior member of the ruling Baath party, Samir Abdulaziz.

Iraq is a major oil producer but has been restricted to exporting under the UN's oil-for-food programme because of international sanctions.

The country's dilapidated oil industry, still able to pump substantial exports, could be a target for missile strikes in order to disrupt fuel supplies to Iraqi defences.

The decision to remove General Rasheed was announced on Iraqi state television and was said to have come by decree from President Saddam Hussein.