WASHINGTON: Chemical companies in India have sold hundreds of tons of chemicals needed to make poison gas to Iran, Iraq and Egypt in the last two years, Bush Administration officials say adding that they fear the trade may expand, the New York Times reported on July 10. The following is an excerpt from the report.
The officials said India, which has export rules less stringent than those of Western countries is emerging as the new battleground in the West’s effort to prevent Middle Eastern nations from producing large stockpiles of poison gas. Indian officials said last week that a state owned trading company sold Iran 60 tons of thinly chloride a chemical used in mustard gas as well as in pesticides and other products earlier this year. Another Indian transaction that would have sent Iran 257 tons of the same chemical was can Celled after pressure from Washington.
Until recently companies in the United States, Japan and Europe have supplied the required chemicals for weapons programs in the Middle East. But officials said tighter export rules in the West, combined with greater diplomatic Pressure from the United States have made it significantly more difficult for Middle Eastern nations to buy the chemicals from industrialized countries.
American officials said they were trying to persuade India to adopt export laws similar to those of Japan, Europe, Australia and the United States. Those countries in an informal alliance called the Australian group, have agreed to closely monitor and restrict sales of chemicals or technology needed for poison gas.
American experts say that many of the substances at issue are of “dual use”, meaning they have legitimate applications in pesticides dyes or even ink for ballpoint pens.
Indians Oppose Controls
Thus far, Indian officials have not been receptive to Western appeals. They argue that the chemicals are common industrial substances with legitimate uses, and they have sometimes portrayed the calls for controls as “colonialism” by Western countries that would hamper India’s chemical industry. At the Paris conference on chemical weapons in January, Indian officials opposed an explicit call for export controls, advocating instead a worldwide ban on chemical weapons.
Administration officials believe a ban 1s, at best, years away.
“This casts more doubt on the viability of the Australia group approach,” said W. Seth Carus, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Its pretty clear that lot of third world countries with developing chemical industries have no inclination to sign on.”
An Administration official said India’s growing chemical industry ‘is the one that worries us the most,” because of India’s location and previous inclination to export chemicals to countries believed to be stockpiling poison gas. Brazil also has an expanding chemical industry, officials said, but it has never been linked to any chemical weapons programs.
Responses to Disclosures
Indian officials have given varying responses to the disclosure by American and West German officials that 257 tons of Indian made thinly chloride was to be sent to Iran Via Dubai.
A spokesman for the Indian Embassy here referred a reporter to a terse statement issued on New Delhi saying that “India has no export restrictions about this particular chemical especially since it is used for pesticides and is a widely traded commodity.”
Indian officials have also said their government is reviewing their country’s chemical export practices but have not said if any action will be taken.
India’s chemical sales are the latest obstacle facing Administration officials trying to implement President Bush’s campaign pledge to stem the spread of chemical weapons. It is a shadowy struggle that pits American intelligence operatives and diplomats against resourceful procurement agents who make their purchases through a maze of front companies and intermediaries.
Iranian and Arsenals
Tran and Iraq used chemical weapons in their eight year war and Iraq was able to produce considerably greater quantities. After a cease fire in the war was achieved last August Iran launched a worldwide search for equipment and supplies to build up its chemical weapons program.
The Bush Administration scooted victory this week in its efforts to stem the spread of the weapons. A shipment of chemicals bound for Iran was returned to India after a timely discovery of the deal by American intelligence and a diplomatic offensive by the State Department.
The sale of thionyl chloride an essential ingredient for mustard gas, was arranged by a West German company, Rheineisen in a quantity that American officials said would be sufficient to supply a significant weapons program.
The West German concerning tum placed an order for 257 tons of the chemical with a company in Dubai called Shatef Trading. The Dubai company then placed its order with Transpek Private Ltd., an Indian chemical company which contends that it was unaware of the ultimate destination.
An official at Transpek Private said the contract for the sale of thionyl chloride was signed in June. Company reports show that its production of the chemical increased from 150 tons in 1979 to 2,203 tons in 1987. A company official said several hundred tons had been exported in the past year.
The ship carrying the cargo in the June transaction, the Sea Crest Pioneer was scheduled to set sail from Bombay to Dubai on June 30.
Because of the U.S. and German intervention the Sea Crest Pioneer left Dubai on July 2 still loaded with the thionyl chloride. It reached Bombay on July 4, port records show.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 14, 1989
