Biological weapons violations claimed

Geneva - The US accused Iraq, North Korea and possibly Iran yesterday of violating a ban on biological weapons at a conference…

Geneva - The US accused Iraq, North Korea and possibly Iran yesterday of violating a ban on biological weapons at a conference designed to strengthen the international treaty outlawing germ warfare. The US Under-Secretary for Arms Control, Mr John Bolton, said the first step was to make sure existing rules were obeyed.

The US rejected the protocol at a preparatory meeting in July, arguing it would have obliged it to open its military and industrial research centres to prying foreign eyes while not giving guarantees that other states were playing by the rules.