Only a Few Years Late – U.N. Bans WMD Sales to Terrorists

The U.N. Security Council has put terrorists, black marketeers and crooked scientists on notice that they face punishment for trafficking in weapons of mass destruction.

Seven months after President Bush called for U.N. action, the council voted unanimously Wednesday to close a loophole that allowed would-be proliferators to get nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

International treaties now target weapons proliferation by governments - but there are no laws to prevent "non-state actors" such as terrorists, black marketeers and unscrupulous individuals and private companies from obtaining such weapons.

The resolution adopted Wednesday by the council requires all 191 U.N. member states to pass laws to prevent "non-state actors" from manufacturing, acquiring or trafficking in nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, the materials to make them, and the missiles and other systems to deliver them.

Bush called the measure an "important achievement" and urged all countries to implement it.

"We must continue to press these efforts to ensure that the world's most destructive weapons are kept from the world's most dangerous regimes and organizations," he said in a statement issued by the White House Wednesday night.

U.S. deputy ambassador James Cunningham said the resolution fulfills Bush's three goals: it criminalizes the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, requires all countries to have strong export controls, and demands that countries protect sensitive materials that can be used in weapons production.

The United States stands ready, along with other countries, to assist nations that need technical assistance to meet the resolution's requirements, he said.

All countries are required to submit a report within 90 days on the measures they are taking to implement the resolution to a committee created by the resolution.

The measure was adopted under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which allows the council to impose sanctions or use force. But it makes clear that there will be no unilateral action by any country, stating that the council intends "to monitor closely the implementation" and take any further measures at a later time, which diplomats said would require a new resolution.

The Non-Aligned Movement, representing 116 mostly developing nations, strongly opposed the reference to Chapter VII, as did other countries, but Cunningham said the United States decided to keep it in because the resolution addresses "a threat to international peace and security."

Pakistan, a nuclear power and member of the movement, also objected to the whole idea of having the Security Council become involved in legislating - a concern of many other countries as well.

Until Wednesday morning, its support for the resolution was in doubt but at the last minute, it voted "yes."

Pakistan admitted in February that its leading nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, passed technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea and the resolution was introduced as the U.N. nuclear watchdog investigates a vast underworld market in nuclear equipment and know-how that Khan spawned.

Experts have turned up black market links to Dubai, Malaysia, South Korea, Switzerland, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and beyond.

Pakistan's U.N. Ambassador Munir Akram said his government supported the goal of keeping weapons of mass destruction from terrorists but still opposed the council trying to "legislate for the world" and take charge of global non-proliferation and disarmament issues.

Like China, he called for a treaty to prevent proliferation by non-state actors to be negotiated as soon as possible to relieve the Security Council "of the exceptional responsibilities it has assumed" under the resolution.

The five declared nuclear powers who are permanent council members - France, the United States, Britain, Russia, China _ spent months reaching agreement on a text which was then submitted to the 10 non-permanent council members and discussed with the wider U.N. membership.

"The importance of this resolution should not be underestimated," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in a statement. "The resolution shows that the international community is determined to respond. It makes clear that all states have a responsibility to take steps to prevent WMD proliferation."

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