Serbia:  British Experts Inspect Serbian Chemical Factory

British experts inspected a chemical factory in Serbia Monday to decide if the facility was producing chemical weapons.

Experts were given access to the entire factory, were given chemical formulas of the factory’s products and took pictures of the facility, Belgrade’s RTS TV reported.

Prvoslav Davinic, head of the Serbian organization responsible for implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention, supported the visit and said it would be a positive step (Belgrade RTS TV/BBC Monitoring, Feb. 17).

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CWC:  Palau, Guatemala Join Treaty

Palau and Guatemala recently ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention and deposited their instruments of ratification with the United Nations.  Palau deposited on Feb. 3 and Guatemala on Feb. 12 (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2002).  When their accessions take effect 30 days after their deposits, the two will officially become 149th and 150th parties to the treaty (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Feb. 19).

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North Korea:  Ship of Missile Fame Brings Home Tons of CW Precursor

North Korea received a chemical shipment Thursday that could be used to manufacture the nerve sarin, the Washington Times reported today.  The shipment from Germany arrived at the west coast seaport of Nampo on the same ship that delivered Scud missiles to Yemen in December (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2002).

After delivering those missiles, the North Korean ship, the So San, sailed to Germany where it took on several tons of sodium cyanide, a dual-use chemical that can be used peacefully to produce pesticides and plastics, U.S. intelligence officials said.

Sodium cyanide is controlled by the Australia Group, an informal export control regime intended to prevent chemical weapon proliferation (see GSN, June 21, 2002).  Germany is a member of the 34-nation group, but an embassy spokesman could not be reached for comment.

On arrival in port, So San Captain Kang Cholryong discussed the December missile incident when Spanish forces detained the ship laden with Scud missiles bound for Yemen.  After U.S. officials decided the shipment was legal, the ship was permitted to make its delivery.

Kang told the Korean Central News Agency that his crew had tried to set his ship on fire and sink it, but was prevented by commandos who boarded the ship from helicopters (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Feb. 18).

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