Global Anti-WMD Drive Notches Up Successes

On 11 occasions over the past nine months, the U.S. and allies cooperating in the Proliferation Security Initiative have successfully prevented the spread of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or related items.

At least two of those incidents involved Iran, two involved North Korea and another involved an unidentified third country, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher confirmed.

Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the PSI, a project launched by President Bush during a 2003 visit to Krakow, Poland.

With a focus on stopping and searching ships, planes, trains or trucks, the PSI aims to prevent terrorists and rogue states from getting hold of weapons of mass destruction-related items.

Supported initially by a core group of 10 other founding nations, the U.S. initiative has since then enjoyed the cooperation of more than 60 countries, according to the department.

The U.S. has identified only one specific episode in which it credits the PSI for stopping a dangerous cargo - the Oct. 2003 interception of the "BBC China," a German-owned vessel carrying Malaysian-produced uranium centrifuge equipment destined for Libya.

At a PSI anniversary function in Washington Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the BBC China incident played a "major role" in Libya's decision to shut down its WMD programs, and in unraveling a global nuclear black market run by Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

For the first time, she also announced that there had been other successes - 11 in total over the past nine months.

One involved stopping a shipment of materials and equipment bound for ballistic missile programs in Iran and other "countries of concern," she said. Others have prevented Iran from securing items to support its missile and WMD programs, "including its nuclear program."

Elaborating later Tuesday, Boucher said there had also been two efforts involving North Korea, the reclusive Stalinist country engaged in a lengthy standoff with the U.S. and international community over nuclear weapons.

"Bilateral cooperation with several governments prevented North Korea from receiving materials used in making chemical weapons, and cooperation with another country blocked the transfer to North Korea of a material useful in its nuclear programs," he said.

Making it clear that only limited information could be released for intelligence reasons, Boucher said apart from the two North Korean incidents and "at least two" involving Iran, PSI had also been effective in stopping "another country in another region" from getting hold of propellant for ballistic missiles.