4B
Monday, April 17, 1995
WORLD
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
U.N. to discuss nuclear capabilities
The Associated Press
LONDON — U.N. experts trying to unravel Saddam Hussein's nuclear program got a lucky break. They stumbled on a half-ton of documents that described Iraqi plans for building a bomb.
As diplomats from 175 nations gather at the United Nations today to try to keep the lid on nuclear weapons in the 21st century, Iraq offers the best example of the difficulties in controlling the spread not just of atomic arms but of all weapons of mass destruction.
Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran in the 1980s, and there were fears it would use them during the 1991 Gulf War. But it was the discovery of Iraq's secret nuclear program after the Gulf War that shocked and galvanized the international community.
"It was thanks to Iraq that we realized the holes in the international attempts to stop the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction," said Patricia Lewis, a nuclear physicist who heads the Verification Technology Information Center in London.
"Since then, there have been many fingers in the dike trying to plug these holes," she said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which failed to detect Iraq's extensive nuclear program, has proposed new measures to make it more difficult for countries to cheat. These include sampling air, water and dust to detect whether weapons-grade uranium and plutonium are being produced and expanding inspections of nuclear facilities.
The U.N. conference will focus on extending the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of international efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. The pact's provisions are administered by the IAEA, a U.N. organization based in Vienna, Austria.
As for other weapons of mass destruction, the Chemical Weapons Convention to ban the use of such arms was signed in 1992 but not enough nations have ratified it to put it into force. The Biological Weapons Convention is being reviewed to try to give it some teeth against cheaters. The Missile Technology Control Regime, a less formal agreement on stopping the spread of missile technology, has gotten many more signatures since the Gulf War.
"We either decide that these agreements are going to work and go hell for leather and make them work, or we decide that they can't possibly work and we accept proliferation," said Lewis.
As part of the Gulf War cease-fire resolutions, the U.N. Security Council set up a special commission to find and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and gave U.N. experts the right to conduct intrusive inspections.
But after four years, the commission still has serious questions.
Rolf Ekeus, head of the commission, said there is "a high risk" that Baghdad is trying to develop biological weapons. He accused Iraq of failing to fully disclose its past military biological program and material acquired for it.
Maurizio Zifferero, the IAEA's deputy director general, said the IAEA is satisfied that Iraq's nuclear program has been dismantled. He credited that to the haul of documents fiscicated in September 1991 by IAEA inspector David Kay.
Until then, "the Iraqiqs were far from being cooperative with us," Zifferero said. "I think the fact that we had in our hands original Iraqi documents which pointed out all the different facets of the program forced them to be more forthcoming."
Kay and Zifferero said the best way to curb proliferation in Iraq is to ensure more inspections and long-term monitoring and verification of all weapons facilities.
Three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces
The Associated Press
HEBRON, West Bank — Israeli security forces ambushed and shot dead three Palestinianians yesterday who the army said were en route to a planned attack on Israelis.
As the army clamped a curfew on nearby Hebron, leaders and supporters of the Hamas fundamentalist group to which the men belonged said others would take their place and continue attacking Israelis.
"If you think you killed three Hamas people then you are mistaken," Marwan Abu Shuker shouted at Israelis checking the bodies. "We are all Hamas. The whole city is Hamas."
Abu Shuker, 35, who lives next to the ambush site, said the Israelis were dressed as Arabs and ambushed the men as they drove through an olive grove, firing "until they were sure the Palestinians were dead."
The Israeli army spokesman's office said security forces clashed with a "terrorist cell" and three Palestinians were killed.
"Preliminary reports show the terrorists were on their way to carry out an attack," the statement said, adding that two assault rifles, ammunition, a pistol and Israeli army uniforms were found in the car.
The Israeli army identified the dead as Adel Falah, 23, and Jihad Ghulmeh, 25, both wanted men, and 22-year-old Tarek Natek
Maj. Gen. Ilan Biran, Israel's top West Bank commander, said they were suspected of several attacks, including a shooting on a bus last month in which two settlers were killed.
Islamic militants have killed 65 Israelis since October. The attacks are aimed at derailing Israel-PLO talks on expanding Palestinian self rule set up in the Gaza Strip and West Bank district of Jericho last May.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Israel would continue its battle against Hamas in the Hebron area. He said he
believed that Yehiya Ayash, a Palestinian chemist who tops Israel's wanted list, was in Gaza.
"He is alive and active (and) will try and continue to attack us, but as every guerilla finds his end, so will he," Rabin told Israel television.
He also said he would consider offering the Palestinians a state in the Gaza Strip — a proposal that PLO leader Yasser Arafat would be unlikely to accept.
"If they would agree to receiving a Palestinian state only in Gaza and leave the West Bank alone, I would consider it seriously," Rabin said.
In an interview with ABC-TV, Rabin also defended the lagging peace process, declaring that century-old conflicts cannot simply be halted "with a stopwatch." But he urged Arafat to crack down harder on the militants.
Arafat, in Gaza City, told a crowd of 20,000 in a soccer stadium that he was open to dialogue with his Islamic fundamentalist opposition, but only if it accepted the peace process with Israel.
"I am telling my brothers 'yes' to national dialogue, but only on the basis of their commitment to what the PLO signed," he said, adding that extremist attacks were giving Israel a pretext to delay extending autonomy to the rest of the West Bank.
Hebron has been under night curfew since last month's attack. The curfew was extended round-the-clock on Friday for the Jewish Passover holiday, lifted at dawn Sunday and reimposed following the clash.
Jewish settlers praised Sunday's action.
"We have feared this cell for many months and now we really have feelings of a true holiday," said Zvi Katzover, mayor of nearby Kiryat Arba, where 4,500 Jewish settlers live.
Nizar Ramadan, the leading Hamas figure in Hebron, blamed Israel for the violence. "Night curfews, day curfews, closing of shops ... all these measures push people to go out and start attacking Israelis," he said.
Pope sends Easter Day peace message
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY — Embracing the victims of unrest, Pope John Paul II sent a message of peace Easter Sunday to people seeking recognition of their deepest aspirations, including the Palestinians and Kurds.
In Jerusalem, thousands of tourists and Palestinian Christians thronged the Old City as drums and church bells reverberated.
But Palestinians said Israeli restrictions kept many West Bank believers away — a reminder that despite ongoing Israel-PLO talks, peaceful coexistence is not yet at hand.
Elsewhere yesterday, as Christians celebrated their belief in Jesus Christ's resurrection, armored personnel carriers and troops guarded worshippers in the Philippines amid rising tensions between Christians and Muslims. A Muslim group is suspected of raiding a mostly Christian town there two weeks ago, killing 53 people.
In Sarajevo, war-torn Bosnia's besieged capital, sniping and shellfire kept many in the city's Christian minority away from a traditional Easter con-
Police also deployed around doomsday churches in South Korea. Some sects had predicted the world's destruction before dawn on Easter, and dozens of the faithful prayed in anticipation of the end. When a predicted doomsday didn't pan out in 1992, sect members rioted.
In his traditional address from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the pope directed his message to the people of Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi and southern Sudan.
"To families torn apart by war, to the victims of hatred and violence ... the Church does not hesitate to renew the Paschal message of peace, reminding everyone of our common origin in the one God," he said.
More than 50,000 people filled St. Peter's Square under an icy drizzle. Umbrellas covered the square, brightened by azaleas, tulips and rhodo-dendron.
Because of the weather, John Paul celebrated Easter Mass inside the basilica this year.
The 74-year-old pope looked tired after Saturday night's Easter vigil in the basilica, but his voice was strong. Before leaving the balcony, John Paul made note of the rain.
"These are tears of Easter lov!" he said.
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