Yugoslavia could use nuke-laced arms
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
.S. intelligence agencies warned NATO military
commanders last week that Yugoslavia could resort to
nuclear-laced weapons in the Balkans conflict, The Washington
Times has learned.
Nuclear material for a radiological weapon -- also known
as a "dirty nuke" -- is being stored at the Vinca Institute of
Nuclear Sciences, located about six miles southeast of the
Yugoslav capital of Belgrade, according to officials familiar
with a Pentagon intelligence report.
A "dirty nuke" does not result in a large explosion but could
kill by spreading radioactive material with conventional
explosives in lethal doses, the officials said.
NATO bombing planners have taken steps to make sure
the facility is not bombed, the officials said.
"This is not on anybody's target list," said one Pentagon
official, who noted that NATO war planners know about the
facility and the nuclear material there.
The Pentagon report estimates about 2 kilograms (4.4
pounds) of highly enriched uranium --weapons-grade fuel for a
nuclear bomb -- are stored at the Vinca center. About seven
kilograms would be required for fueling a nuclear bomb.
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The research center also has 53 kilograms of freshly
irradiated Uranium-235 and about 10 kilograms of spent fuel
from a research reactor. That material is not regarded as
"weapons grade" fuel but is dangerous because of its
radioactivity and its potential use as a contaminating weapon.
"If this were reprocessed, it could be used in a radiological
device," said the official.
The warning was contained in a classified report on nuclear
material being stored at a poorly guarded Serbian research
center near Belgrade.
President Clinton said Thursday after a speech in San
Francisco that the use of weapons of mass destruction is a
danger known to U.S. intelligence agencies.
Asked how he would respond to the use of such arms, Mr.
Clinton said: "My response would be swift and overwhelming,
and we have, obviously, intelligence about the Serbs in a
number of areas militarily.
"But I think they are quite well aware of the dangers of
overly escalating this," Mr. Clinton said. "And I think that's all I
should say about it right now."
The president appeared to be restating the Pentagon policy
first outlined several years ago by then-Defense Secretary
William Perry that the U.S. military response to the use of
battlefield nuclear, chemical or biological weapons would be
devastating attacks with conventional arms.
The Pentagon intelligence warning said that the nuclear
material is vulnerable to theft. Satellite photographs taken
recently of the Vinca center reveal the facility is protected with
a single guard booth and that it does not appear to be well
secured.
A U.S. official said the Belgrade government has
documents, equipment and precursor chemicals that could be
used in making chemical weapons, as well as production
facilities. It is not known whether the Serbs actually have
munitions weapons for chemical arms or stockpiles of such
weapons, the official said.
The precursor chemicals indicate that the Serbs could
produce the deadly nerve agent sarin, the official said. Sarin is
extremely toxic; small amounts can disrupt the central nervous
system.
Serbian forces also may have capabilities for producing
choking agents or blistering agents such as mustard gas, as well
as riot-control agents that have weapons potential, the official
said.
A 1996 report by the group Human Rights Watch said
there were witness testimonies indicating Serbian-backed
forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina used chemical weapons in
carrying out the massacre of Bosnians in Srebrenica in the
summer of 1995.
The report stated that the Yugoslav army in 1991 had a
chemical weapons program that included stocks of sarin,
mustard gas and a psychochemical incapacitant known as BZ.
"There are no indications that the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia has destroyed its stockpiles of chemical agents or
disassembled its chemical agent production equipment since"
the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, the report states.
Yugoslav army doctrine, according to report, also called for
troops to use chemical weapons "in surrounding and destroying
a group," or when army forces are blocked from moving.
Belgrade's biological weapons capabilities, if any, are not
known. |
