Banned WMD shipments to be targeted

icNewcastle ^ | September 05 2003

[knighthawk]

Britain, the US and nine other countries have agreed to press ahead with plans to intercept shipments of weapons of mass destruction by boarding ships, forcing suspected planes to land and inspecting cargoes.

The agreement, which came at the end of a two-day meeting in Paris, contained a set of principles outlining steps members should take to increase co-operation on uncovering transfers of weapons, delivery systems and related materials.

Part of the US government's Proliferation Security Initiative, the statement committed members to change national and international laws to strengthen those efforts, and to share intelligence on weapons movements.

The guidelines will now be distributed to other countries. John Bolton, US under-secretary of state for arms control, said Washington was particularly interested in winning Chinese and Russian support. The two countries are not among the 11 members.

Mr Bolton said the aim was both to stop shipments and to create a deterrent for states or groups considering such shipments.

"Our objective is to dramatically reduce the international commerce in weapons of mass destruction, production equipment, precursor chemicals, all things related to weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems," he told reporters at the US Embassy in Paris.

In addition to Britain and the US, the members are Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

The members will also conduct a series of 10 exercises to prepare for interceptions on sea, land and in the air, with the first one on September 13-14 in the Coral Sea off Australia's north east coast. The next meeting was scheduled for October in London.

In a statement, the French government said the agreement was part of the "overall effort in support of non-proliferation, which is a pillar of collective security".

The statement added: "It can also help to reduce the risk of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) falling into the hands of terrorists."

[knighthawk]

Ping

[rhombus]

This seems like a very, very important step here. Still I wonder, when it comes to boarding ships and forcing aircraft down weapons must be free. Will there be support for a plane shot down, a ship sunk? It is one thing to pass a "feel good" agreement. It is quite another to back it up and backing up such an agreement is what counts.