Nations reach anti-terrorist accord on portable missiles

From Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN)--The United States and 32 other nations have agreed to tighten the export of portable air defense systems, the State Department announced Tuesday.

The agreement sets "comprehensive and strict controls on the export" of the missiles, known as "Man-Portable Air Defense Systems," according to a written statement from U.S. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher.

Included in the agreement are surface-to-air missiles such as the Stingers and SA-128s.

The agreement is the product of a two-year joint effort by the State Department and the Pentagon, and marks the first accord to place multilateral controls on the shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Boucher said the new multilateral controls are similar to those already used in the United States.

The countries participating in the agreement all belong to the 33-nation Wassenaar Arrangement, which comprises most of the world's major arms exporters.

The group was established by the Clinton administration in 1996 to promote "transparency, responsibility and restraint" in international transfers of conventional arms and sensitive dual-use items.

Countries participating in the new missile agreement will secure guarantees of end-users of the weapons from recipient governments, as well as assurances of proper security procedures for their handling and storage.

Boucher said the agreement "will make America and the world safer" by keeping the missiles out of the hands of "terrorists and outlaws," and will reduce the threat of illegal black market acquisitions for use against US troops and aircraft and international peacekeepers.

The countries that make up the Wassenaar Agreement are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.

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Wassenaar Arrangement
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