Israeli Response:  Gas Masks Are Ineffective, Defense Expert Says

At least two-thirds of gas masks distributed to Israeli civilians are ineffective, the leading chemical and biological defense expert at the Israeli Defense Ministry said recently, according to today’s Ha’aretz (see GSN, Aug. 23).

Speaking at a recent meeting of top Israeli military officials, Esther Krasner said that the current masks are the same quality as those produced before the 1991 Gulf War.  Israel should cancel orders for the current masks and immediately begin producing “Sapphire-style” hooded masks, which are 10 times more effective, Krasner said.

Krasner is the chief of the Ramada Administration, the Israeli defense research body for protecting against chemical and biological warfare agents, Ha’aretz reported today.

Although it would take up to 10 years to produce the Sapphire masks for every Israeli, those who are in the areas considered to be at high risk of chemical or biological attack could be equipped in the next few months, she said.

Krasner has previously been critical of the older style masks, Ha’aretz reported.  The older masks do not allow for different shaped faces or extensive movement, according to Krasner (Amnon Barzilai, Ha’aretz, Dec. 31).

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Russia:  Chemical Disarmament Budget Unchanged for 2003

Russia has allocated $174 million for destroying chemical weapons in 2003, an amount criticized by the chief of the Russia’s chemical disarmament program, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 2).

“The sum is almost the same as it was in 2002,” said Zinovy Pak, head of the Russian Munitions Agency.  “We are certainly not satisfied with the sum, for we have to start construction of the main scrapping facilities for poisonous gases in Shchuchye … and Kambarka,” he added (Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Dec. 25).

Polish Aid

Russia and Poland signed an agreement Dec. 17 to cooperate on chemical disarmament, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.  Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz and Pak signed the agreement, which calls for Polish experts and technicians to assist in the destruction of the Russian stockpile.

Poland also has committed slightly more than $100,000 to joint disarmament efforts between the two countries (Russian Foreign Ministry release, Dec. 25).

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U.S. Response:  VX Breaks Down in Concrete, Scientists Discover

U.S. scientists at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory have discovered that the high alkalinity, or pH level, of concrete rapidly degrades VX nerve agent, the laboratory announced last month (see GSN, Mar. 22).

Gary Groenewold, a chemist at the laboratory, was testing a secondary ion mass spectrometer that can detect trace amounts of VX agent in a sample on ground-up concrete when the discovery was made.  An initial test of the measuring equipment was successful and Groenewold and his colleagues left the laboratory.  When the scientists returned to see if the spectrometer could reproduce its earlier findings, they discovered a surprising number of VX degradation byproducts.

“At the time, we didn’t know VX would degrade on concrete,” Groenewold said.  “Then we realized that we were looking at the spectral fingerprints for VX degradation products,” he added.

The researchers discovered that VX on concrete will break down to 1 percent of its original concentration after 15 hours at room temperature.  After 50 hours it is only one-10 millionth of its beginning concentration. 

The researchers believe that concrete, consisting mostly of carbonate and sand, neutralizes the VX agent with its high pH level.

Researchers plan to next measure VX degradation on intact, solid concrete (Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory release, Nov 18).

The spectrometer, and the new information on VX degradation, could provide useful to authorities who need to clean up after a VX attack, Science reported this month.  The device could also prove useful to weapons inspectors looking for evidence of chemical or biological weapons materials.

“There is always going to be concern over whether any residual chemical is left” in the aftermath of an attack, said Paul D’Agostino, an analytical chemist at Defense Research and Development Canada (Kendall Powell, Science, Dec. 9).

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Kuwaiti Response:  Officials Test Chemical Attack Response

Kuwaiti officials held a comprehensive and unannounced test of the country’s ability to respond to a chemical weapons attack Saturday, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 13).

Authorities exploded several cars and released yellow smoke to simulate a missile attack involving VX nerve agent, all without warning local police, fire and health officials.  Emergency workers extinguished the fires from the car explosions and treated mock victims at the scene.  When emergency responders arrived at the site of the gas release they found fellow firefighters pretending to be dead and called in workers with decontamination suits.

“What I saw was a very well coordinated exercise,” said Col. Stephen Owen Thomas, a British military attache.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is suspected of having illicit stores of VX and Kuwait is concerned about a chemical attack.

“Saddam maybe will go out of his mind at any time,” said Col. Abdulaziz al-Malalla, Kuwaiti chief assistant of operations for civil defense.  “Saddam has chemical weapons.  We are worried for everyone in this country,” he added (Associated Press, Jordan Times, Dec. 29).

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Italy:  Records Show No Abandoned Chemical Weapons In Ethiopia

By Bryan Bender
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Italy has concluded its military forces did not abandon chemical weapons in Ethiopia during its 1935-36 conflict with what was then called Abyssinia (see GSN, Dec. 10).

“According to our records in Rome, at the end of the 1935-1936 war between Italy and Ethiopia, no deposits of chemical armaments were left in the country,” the Italian government press office said this month in a written response to questions from Global Security Newswire.

Ethiopia, where Italy is believed to have used chemical weapons, has been cited by arms control experts as an example of the difficulties of identifying ownership of so-called abandoned chemical weapons and reaching agreement on how they are to be disposed of when located.

Abandoned chemical weapons are defined by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention as being manufactured after 1925 and left on the territory of another state.  The abandoning party is responsible for them under the provisions of the chemical weapons treaty.

Ethiopia last year claimed that Italy was breaking international law by not disclosing the location of chemical weapons depots built during the occupation of the area. The discovery in May 2001 of live ammunition and grenades renewed fears that poison gas and other weapons were left behind. 

Moreover, at a recent meeting of the U.N. disarmament fellows, an academic gathering described to Global Security Newswire by an official who attended, Ethiopia’s representative expressed frustration with Italy’s failure to acknowledge ownership of any abandoned weapons, provide documentation, or otherwise take steps toward locating any leftover stockpiles with the intent to destroy them.

“Ethiopia is unhappy with the destruction of chemical weapons as called for under the CWC,” said Jonathan Tucker of the U.S. Institute for Peace said earlier this month.  “In 1936 (former Italian dictator Benito) Mussolini conquered Ethiopia and used mustard gas but apparently the Italians are challenging the fact that they have ownership,” Tucker said.

Italy responded to such claims earlier this month by saying that it has no record of abandoned chemical weapons in Abyssinia, where its military forces are believed to have brought as many as 80,000 tons of chemical munitions.

“Following the Paris convention [the CWC] which prohibits chemical weapons, and [Ethiopia] having [found] unexploded artillery projectiles and bombs … Italy sent a technical delegation headed by the ‘Military Defense Installation NBC’ from Nov. 12 until Nov. 16, 2001,” according to the statement.

“The delegation was accompanied by Ethiopian experts and military personnel,” it added.  “According to the final report issued at the end of the mission, the examined materials consisted only of weapons with conventional loading, and not referable to chemical weapons.”

Italy, meanwhile, has also offered to train Ethiopians “to be able to detect and examine any further suspicious materials,” according to the statement.

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France:  More Terrorism Suspects Found With Chemical Links

French officials arrested five more people last week from a terrorist cell that reportedly was seeking to acquire chemical weapons materials and planned to attack the Russian embassy in Paris, the New York Times reported Friday (see GSN, Dec. 19).

“This cell had decided to hit Russian targets in France,” an Interior Ministry statement said Saturday.

Four suspected militants were arrested in a suburb of Paris Dec. 16 and a fifth man, Nourredine Merabet, was arrested five days later on the French-Spanish border.  Four more people were arrested last week in Romainville, another Parisian suburb, including a trained chemist who has been to Afghanistan and Menad Ben Chellali, whose brother is being held at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, the Times reported.

During the Romainville arrests, French authorities discovered a list of chemicals needed to make a gas related to cyanide, officials said.  The list also contained quantities and prices for the components, the Times reported.

Some of those arrested have also spent time in militant training camps in the Caucasus Mountains along Chechnya’s border with Georgia where they met with senior al-Qaeda members who specialized in dangerous toxic materials, according to the French Interior Ministry (Craig Smith, New York Times, Dec. 28).

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