UN official urges adoption of anti-biological weapons monitoring mechanism

A senior United Nations official has urged countries meeting to review an anti-biological weapons treaty to adopt a proposal that establishes a mechanism to monitor compliance with the international accord.

Speaking at a press conference on the resumed session of the Fifth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, which opened today in Geneva, UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala said the proposal was a modest achievement and proved that the accord was a "viable treaty" that could be further developed.

What mattered now was that all sides focus on further progress, rather than "crying over spilt milk" over the lack of consensus thus far, Mr. Dhanapala said, adding that he thought it important that the United States remain involved in the process, particularly regarding the proposal.

The session's chairman, Ambassador Tibor Toth of Hungary, said the two-week meeting would not focus on reaching agreement on a final declaration, but rather would try to achieve consensus on a paper that would allow work to continue on topics like bio-security and assistance to countries dealing with man-made diseases.