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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Whirlwind who wrote (16127)	10/30/2002 10:27:56 AM
From: Alan Whirlwind	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82066

Moscow gas mystery New Scientist magazine’s researchers think they have some leads on the mystery gas used to end the hostage situation in Moscow. They believe the gas could be a secret crowd control weapon, “known to be in development by governments who want non-lethal ways of dealing with civilians during conflicts.” In the event, the gas did knock out the Chechen terrorists, but it also killed well over 100 hostages. Despite heavy international and internal pressure on the Russian government to reveal the identity of the gas, they have so far refused. Weapons experts have suggested 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate (BZ), a 1950’s chemical weapon. But New Scientist cites the University of Virginia’s Christopher Holstege who dismisses this notion – apparently BZ takes an hour to start working and doesn’t reach full effectiveness for 8 hours. The mystery gas worked immediately. Nevertheless, the fact that the survivors are pale and weak with memory loss indicates that the gas may be a close relative of BZ, some sort of anti-cholinergic agent that disables the nervous system and can block receptors in the brain. Former Soviet chemical weapons scientist Vil Mirzayanov believes the gas was a BZ-like weapon developed by Russia during the Cold War, and, as such, it should have been destroyed under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Russians, however, could point to a proviso that allows gases to be retained for law enforcement. The magazine concludes that Russia’s secrecy points to a military compound, rather than a medical anaesthetic, as was first claimed. Whichever, and despite President Putin’s claims that the use of the gas prevented even more loss of life, the gas is clearly less than ideal for hostage situations. What everyone wants to know is, what was it, and was it legal?