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United States: U.S. Is Responsible for Left-Behind Weapons, Panama Says By Mike Nartker The remarks follow a request by Panamanian Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Aleman to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that the United States be responsible for disposing of any remaining chemical weapons in Panama (see GSN, Jan. 4). “It is reasonable for the U.S. to clean it up,” Aleman adviser Juan Mendez said. As a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the United States should be required to clean up chemical weapons that the U.S. military left behind on San Jose Island off the Pacific coast, Mendez said. Panama is a small nation with little resources available for the task, he said. In January, Aleman requested that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — which monitors CWC parties — reinspect U.S. chemical weapons left behind on the island. Three 1,000-pound bombs and one 500-pound bomb were found on the island in July. Three more 1,000-pound bombs were discovered in January. An OPCW team reinspected the weapons at the end of January, according an OPCW spokesman. A report on the inspections will be presented to the OPCW executive council at its meeting during the third week of March, the spokesman said. There has been no official word yet, however, as to what the United States plans to do about the leftover weapons, Mendez said. “The reasonable thing would be for the U.S. to step forward and try to contact us,” he said. The United States has engaged in negotiations with Panama on the issue of chemical weapons left behind on San Jose Island, U.S. State Department spokesman Charles Barclay said. “We appreciate the Panamanians’ patience on the issue,” Barclay said, adding that no deadline has been set for the issue to be resolved.
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