POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Chemical Weapons Material to be Destroyed

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Oct 22 2002 (IPS) - As the world focuses on the disputes over chemical weapons in Iraq, Yugoslavia has decided to destroy stockpiled material that could be used to make chemical weapons.

"Yugoslavia never produced any chemical weapons," says Prvoslav Davinic, head of a committee that deals with the ban of chemical weapons. "But the re-integration of our country in the international community called for removal of all substances that could have any connection with chemical weapons production."

Yugoslavia joined the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) founded by the United Nations only two years ago after the fall of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. That entailed opening all potential sites of chemical weapons production to inspection, and destruction of "dual use" chemicals.

These chemicals are normally produced for use as insecticides or cleaning agents, but they can also become ingredients for chemical weapons.

Yugoslavia was never singled out as a major producer of chemical weapons, but accusations appeared during the 1991-95 wars in Croatia and Bosnia that Yugoslavia can produce them.

Well informed sources say research into chemical weapons began in Yugoslavia back in 1958. The main installation was in the village of Potoci, near Mostar town in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina. When the war broke out in the former Yugoslav federation in 1991, the equipment, installations and substance reserves were moved to Serbia.

Some Western media speculated recently that Yugoslav experts in the chemicals field had left for Iraq ahead of a new war. Yugoslavia and Iraq developed strong military cooperation in the 70s and 80s.

The new Yugoslav administration sought to clear controversies around chemical weapons with a new policy of transparency with international organisations and the domestic public.

OPCW teams have visited Yugoslavia five times, inspecting places singled out in the past as potential sites for production of chemical weapons. A team of five experts from the U.S. visited several detergent and tyre factories in Serbia last week. Serbia is the bigger sister of Montenegro in the Yugoslav federation.

The visits included sites targeted during the 11 weeks of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) bombing in the central Serbian towns of Cacak and Krusevac in 1999. None of the sites were hit by the NATO rockets.

"This visit was to verify that the reserves of dual chemicals and the equipment that can be used in chemical weapons production will be properly removed and destroyed," Davinic said in Krusevac. "The U.S. government will pay for that." The operation is expected to cost between 300,000 and 400,000 dollars. The operation will begin in January.

Many local people were not aware that chemical weapons or potentially dangerous substances had been stockpiled in their neighbourhood. Davinic said the public should have no cause for concern.

"Substances that existed in our factories were used for experiments only," Davinic said. "They were used in research on defending the population against chemical warfare. One cannot develop an efficient gas mask without knowing what are the threats its user can face."

The Yugoslav Army said that neither now nor in the past has Yugoslavia made any chemical weapons or nerve gases. "The basic aim of installations we had was to develop defence systems," the army said in a statement.

In all 126 containers are located in Krusevac in a field measuring 20 metres by 40 metres, and surrounded by barbed wire. The substances are now sealed and safe and await final removal and destruction.

"The stuff cannot simply be flushed down the toilet, so we need international help," Davinic said. "But we hope that the story about chemical weapons here is over."

POLITICS-YUGOSLAVIA: Chemical Weapons Material to be Destroyed

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Oct 22 2002 (IPS) - As the world focuses on the disputes over chemical weapons in Iraq, Yugoslavia has decided to destroy stockpiled material that could be used to make chemical weapons.
(more…)