Gorbachev Calls on G-8 Partnership to Expand WMD Nonproliferation Efforts in Russia

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is asking 22 leaders of the Group of Eight Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction to expand their efforts, particularly in Russia, Green Cross International announced yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 15).

“While G-8 Global Partnership efforts over the past four years have helped secure and/or eliminate thousands of nuclear weapons, construct chemical weapons destruction facilities, and retrain thousands of former weapons scientists, much remains to be done,” Gorbachev said in a letter to the leaders.

Gorbachev requested that the leaders expedite funding, especially for WMD nonproliferation work in Russia. Other threat-reduction priorities include increased transparency and “protection of public health and the environment,” according to the letter.

The Global Partnership in 2002 pledged $20 billion over 10 years — half from the United States and half from other countries — to combat the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and materials (Green Cross International release, Dec. 20).

Chechen Officials Suspect Nerve-Gas Poisoning

Doctors in Russia suspect nerve-gas poisoning may be responsible for the hospitalization of at least 45 people in Chechnya, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 26).

Reports beginning Friday of headaches and breathing problems from students, teachers and workers at a Chechen middle school indicate the patients were exposed to some sort of nerve agent, emergency personnel and government officials said.

ITAR-Tass quoted Chechen Prosecutor General Valery Kuznetsov as saying yesterday that “to speak about a terrorist act is premature.” However, “all possibilities are being considered,” he said (Associated Press/Pravda.ru, Dec. 20).