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WASHINGTON: The five major nuclear weapons states and seven other countries will meet in Morocco next week to begin implementing an initiative to keep nuclear materials out of the hands of extremist groups.
With North Korea and Iran expressing determination to pursue nuclear programs, the United States and many of its allies worry that atomic material from those or other countries could be sold to al Qaeda or other groups.
Led by the United States and Russia, the meeting on Monday and Tuesday in Rabat aims to make progress on a statement of principles for a “global initiative to combat nuclear terrorism,” a U.S. official said.
Participating states include Britain, China and France — which like Russia and the United States have nuclear weapons — plus Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan and Turkey.
Some of the countries invited to Morocco are among the most vulnerable in terms of where extremists might acquire nuclear or radioactive materials, or move such materials, U.S. officials said. Others have resources to devote to this defensive effort, the officials said.
For instance, Russia, like the United States, is a leading producer of nuclear weapons and despite an expensive effort to secure these nuclear stockpiles, experts say many remain susceptible to theft.
Kazakhstan, which gave up nuclear weapons after the Soviet Union fell, is keen to lead the initiative in its Central Asian region, where there has been a great deal of instability and dissident groups vying for power, the official said.
Turkey was invited because of its role as an important crossroads between the Middle East and the West.
DETECTION AND INTERDICTION
The initiative aims to have participating states make “a commitment and build capacities to prevent the acquisition of sensitive materials by terrorist groups,” said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
This means “better protection of radioactive and nuclear materials, better accounting, better security practices, including improved protection of civilian nuclear facilities which may be vulnerable to terrorist attack,” he said.
“The emphasis is on both detection and interdiction of the material once detected,” he added.
Not on the list are two other nuclear weapons states — India, which is developing a robust new friendship with the United States, and Pakistan, whose top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, admitted selling nuclear parts and secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya in early 2004.
U.S. officials said it is hoped the two South Asian rivals might join the new initiative later.
U.S. officials said the program is modelled after the Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, which was launched by Washington several years ago as a loosely organised group of states, now numbering more than 60, who share intelligence and conduct exercises aimed at interdicting shipments, including at sea, of items that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction or their delivery systems.
The new initiative was agreed to by U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in St. Petersburg last July.
China, a rising power once hostile to PSI, is now more accepting of that program's goals and its willingness to be on the ground floor of the new initiative is significant, officials said.
Morocco was chosen as host because it has a solid record of combating terrorism, officials said. The meeting will be led by U.S. Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak.
