Global Security Newswire

A U.S.-led, 11-nation effort to interdict shipments of WMD materials will soon be joined by other nations, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 15).

The Proliferation Security Initiative is intended to prevent proliferation by seizing shipments of WMD-related cargo in transit. Participants currently include Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The program “will now be opened up to countries and to international bodies that want to, and have the capacity to, contribute expertise and capabilities which help the PSI achieve its aim,” Downer told the Australian Parliament.

The group is planning eight exercises before the middle of next year, including a maritime exercise — led by France and Spain — and a Italian-led air exercise.

“I think this broadening of the participation in the PSI is essential and it will obviously strengthen the capacity of the PSI to deal with the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction around the world,” Downer said.

The PSI effort is widely acknowledged to be focused on North Korea, Reuters reported (Reuters/Alertnet.org, Oct. 15).