U.S. Rejects Germ Warfare Accord

Courtesy Of: CNN
July 26, 2001
Posted: 3:55 AM EDT (0755 GMT)

GENEVA, Switzerland -- The U.S. has rejected a draft accord to ensure compliance with a United Nations ban on biological weapons.

The ban, known as the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, does not currently have compliance details as none were included when it was formulated during the Cold War, Associated Press reported.

Nations had been negotiating for almost seven years to agree on a way to implement the ban, when the United States announced on Wednesday that it had "long-standing concerns" and could not support the draft.

...The U.S. will work hard to "improve, not lessen" global efforts to counter the biological weapons threat and its potential impact on civilization, Mahley said.

A senior State Department official said a working text of the protocol poses a "serious risk" to U.S. national interests.

The protocol would open U.S. laboratories to inspections, which the official said would give others the information needed to counter the U.S. biological weapons defense program.

The official said the protocol also would endanger U.S. export controls, which the administration sees as the strongest defense in stopping the proliferation of biological weapons.

...A central concern for the United States, Mahley said, was uncovering "illicit activity" regarding biological weapons.

The draft accord fails to provide any deterrent to states manufacturing illicit biological weapons, Mahley said.

The U.S. rejection threw the future of the talks into doubt.

"Even though I understand some of the rationale, I was rather surprised by the U.S. argument at this stage," Japanese Ambassador Seiichiro Noboru told The Associated Press news agency.

Noboru said the rejection meant that efforts to strengthen the BWC would have to start all over.
"It does close the chapter on 6-1/2 years of negotiation," Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood said. "Whether it closes the book or not we don't know."

"I am really disappointed. You really wonder what the United States thinks it has been doing for the past decade," said Professor Graham Pearson of the department of peace studies at Britain's Bradford University, who is observing the talks.

"The protocol brought benefits for all. The message that goes out now is that the world does not care about biological weapons -- the most dangerous kind of all," Pearson, a former head of the British Defence Ministry's Porton Down research establishment told Reuters news agency.

..."We regret that the U.S. has decided to reject this protocol. The concern is that germ weapons talks could just sink into the doldrums," said one European diplomat.


Video:
Opposition to a ban on germ warfare is another issue in which the U.S. finds itself standing alone. CNN's Robin Oakley reports (July 25)
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EXTRA INFORMATION:
Treaties in dispute


RESOURCES:
Biological Weapons Convention


AUDIO:
CNN's Robin Oakley: U.S. move causes resentment in Europe
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