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UN council unanimously adopts terrorist arms ban
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-29 08:40 The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on
Wednesday for a U.S.-drafted resolution that would punish black marketeers who
traffic in nuclear, chemical and biological weapons components.
The measure would obligate all 191 U.N. member nations to punish "non-state
actors" dealing in parts and technology for weapons of mass destruction.
Even Pakistan, which had misgivings until the last minute, voted for the
resolution in the 15-nation council, giving the Bush administration and its
allies a clean sweep.
Pakistan admitted this year that Abdul Qadeer Khan, a scientist revered as
the father of the country's nuclear bomb, had smuggled nuclear secrets to North
Korea, Iran and Libya, and was under house arrest.
In an effort to get Pakistan's vote, the resolution was not made retroactive,
a point noted by its U.N. ambassador, Munir Akram, in his address to the
council.
The measure was sponsored by Britain, France, the Philippines, Romania,
Russia and Spain as well as the United States. U.S. President Bush at
September's U.N. General Assembly called for a resolution to "criminalize the
proliferation of weapons."
In a White House statement, Bush called the vote "an important achievement"
and urged nations to enact appropriate measures. "We must continue to press
these efforts to ensure that the world's most destructive weapons are kept from
the world's most dangerous regimes and organizations," he said.
The resolution compels nations to adopt and enforce laws to prevent
terrorists and black marketeers from being able to "manufacture, acquire,
possess, develop, transport or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and
their means of delivery."
'NAME AND SHAME'
It was adopted under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which makes it
obligatory for all nations and could allow for eventual sanctions and the use of
force.
In this case, it does not provide any sanctions if the states do not comply.
Instead, U.S. officials said they relied mainly on "name and shame" pressures on
errant nations, and British envoys said any enforcement action would need
another resolution.
Pakistan's Akram earlier objected to the use of Chapter VII enforcement
provisions.
But Akram said on Wednesday that revisions in the text made it clear the
council would not legislate for the world because it was not a representative
body. The text now says it is up to individual nations to adopt specific
legislation.
The U.S. deputy ambassador, James Cunningham, told the council, "No one
nation can meet this challenge alone." He hoped states would cooperate in
efforts to "stop the flow of these deadly weapons."
The resolution was negotiated over six months by the five permanent members
of the council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.
It aims to fill a gap in the system of treaties negotiated since World War II
to halt the spread of nuclear and other unconventional weapons to "non-state
actors" rather than states alone.
In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, "The importance of this
resolution cannot be underestimated" as a demonstration "of the international
community's determination to tackle the threat posed by the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction."
Among the concessions in the resolution was to lengthen to two years from six
months the life of a Security Council monitoring committee. The shorter period
had raised questions of quick compliance in devising and adopting new
legislation.
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