Nations Pressed to Meet Anti-WMD Commitments

A meeting today in Vienna is aimed at promoting adherence to a U.N. Security Council resolution against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 8, 2005).

The council approved Resolution 1540 in April 2004, mandating that U.N. nations develop legislation to deny weapons of mass destruction, along with WMD parts and means of delivery, to “nonstate actors” (see GSN, April 29, 2004).

“Terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction is one of the gravest threats today to the world community,” Gregory Schulte, U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said to open the one-day meeting organized by the 56-state Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.  “The threat is real, the consequences would be enormous.”

“We have to assume that terrorist groups will continue to try and acquire the sensitive materials they need to produce weapons of mass destruction,” he said, adding that any “dedicated group with some knowledge of science and engineering and access to the Internet and some funding can construct such a device.”

The nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea illustrate concerns about the proliferation of WMD materials, Schulte said.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed 18 incidents between 1993 and 2004 of trafficking of plutonium or highly enriched uranium in the OSCE area, he said.  The organization includes members from Europe, Central Asia and North America, according to AP.

There are “gaps that need to be filled” in OSCE nations and others on enforcing the resolution, Schulte said.  One tool to help fill those gaps could be a best practices guide for countries’ on meeting their obligations, he said.

African and Pacific Ocean nations are among those facing obstacles in meeting the resolution’s obligations, said Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov.  “They have no idea about export controls,” he said.

It is important that nations such as Russia and the United States provide support for other countries in this effort, Ulyanov said (Veronika Oleksyn, Associated Press/NASDAQ.com, Nov. 8).

The major areas of proliferation concern in the OSCE area are in Central Asian nations near “areas of conflict and failed states,” one senior diplomat told Reuters, referring partly to Afghanistan.

While all OSCE nations have delivered status reports to the Security Council committee monitoring adherence to the resolution, that is not enough, said Slovakian Ambassador Peter Burian, who leads the panel.  Some “countries think filing reports is the same as implementing.  That’s only a basic first step.  Practical enforcement on the ground is needed,” he said (Reuters/New York Times, Nov. 7).

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