 |
| “Allegation[s]
of bioterrorism… were made maybe not coincidentally just
before our visit to Cuba," Carter said. |
HAVANA,
May 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Seated beside Cuban
President Fidel Castro, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter strongly
suggested U.S. officials sought to undercut his landmark visit to Cuba
with baseless charges Havana developed and exported biological arms.
"I
would also like to comment on the [U.S.] allegation of bioterrorism. I
do this because these allegations were made maybe not coincidentally
just before our visit to Cuba," Carter said, quoted by Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
He
said U.S. officials admitted to him in secret briefings they had no
evidence to back up their charge.
"I
asked them specifically on more than one occasion 'Is there any
evidence that Cuba has been involved in sharing any information with
any other country on earth that could be used for terrorist
purposes?" Carter said.
"And
the answer from our experts on intelligence was 'no'. I think it is
very significant, though, that this allegation was made, and I'm
grateful for a chance to come [to the Center for Genetic Engineering
and Biotechnology]."
During a visit to the center, Cuba's premier biotech research
facility, Carter pressed Cuban officials for guarantees technology
transfers could not be put to improper use after an official U.S.
charge last week that Cuba allegedly produced and exported biological
weapons and related technology.
Washington
reacted icily to Castro's offer to let Carter tour the facility and to
the former president's reaction.
"President
Carter is in Cuba on a private tour and has not been sent to inspect
possible chemical and biological weapons installations," said
Lynn Cassel, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman.
Secretary
of State Colin Powell, on the way to Iceland for talks with NATO
foreign ministers, expressed disbelief at Carter's contention that
administration officials had not briefed him about their concern about
Cuba's biological weapons program.
"I
don't know what briefings president Carter may have received; I am
sure we made ourselves available to him," Powell told ABC
television. "We do believe Cuba has a biological offensive
research capability."
National
security adviser Condoleezza Rice also claimed there was "plenty
of reason to be very concerned" about Cuba's biological program
and dismissed the notion that Carter's visit to a Cuban biological
research center could be seen as proof to the contrary.
"I
will say that you can't show someone a biotech lab and be assured they
are not creating weapons of mass destruction," she told PBS
public television.
"That's
not how biological weapons work. They are actually very easy to
conceal. We need multiple measures to make certain biological weapons
are not being developed and transferred."
"I
noticed earlier that President Castro said that Jimmy Carter is free
to travel wherever he wants," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
said from Chicago. "Well, why not then, President Castro, let
people travel free wherever they want?
Why
have one standard for a visitor and a far worse, much more repressive
standard for his own people? The Cuban people should be free to travel
wherever they want."
U.S.
Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
John Bolton, said May 6 the U.S. believes Cuba has at least a limited
offensive biological warfare research and development effort and has
provided dual-use biotechnology to nations suspected of terrorism.
Cuba,
which insists the charge is a lie and is proud of what it sees as the
humanitarian component of its development of more affordable vaccines
and medicines, has demanded the U.S. government offer proof.
Moments
after Carter’s arrival in Havana Sunday, May 12, Castro, determined
to shoot down the U.S. allegation, offered him the possibility of
personally inspecting Cuban scientific facilities with experts of his
choosing presumably at a later date.
Carter
said Castro has offered "publicly that any person who wanted to
come and investigate any allegations concerning this bioterrorism
issue would be free and welcome to come without restraint. And my
presumption is that if anyone does have evidence of this kind, that
they take advantage of his offer."
The
United States and Cuba do not maintain full diplomatic relations. The
U.S. government lists Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Cuba
has transferred biotechnology to countries including Algeria, Brazil,
Canada, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Mexico and Malaysia, Cuban
officials told Carter.
The former U.S. president asked about any transfers to Iraq and Libya,
which Cuban officials said have not taken place. Cuban officials
denied some allegations in published reports in the United States that
transfers had taken place to Libya and Iraq, and said there were no
planned transfers there.
"The
relationship between Cuba and Iran in this respect is just in the
initial stages and has not reached a point of technological
development," Carter said.
"And
I hope, and my presumption is, that Cuba will be very intensely
concentrated upon enforcing that provision to prevent any illicit or
improper use of the technology it shares."
The
center, founded in 1986, has more than 1,200 employees including more
than 300 researchers and plans to market more than 20 new products by
2005.
It
is known internationally for its production of vaccines, including a
widely marketed one against hepatitis B, and is working on an AIDS
vaccine now in the first of four development phases.
Carter
said "tens of millions of people around the world have benefited
from this research in Cuba," noting that "it may be that
Cuba is unique in having emphasized the health need as a driving
force, and not just how to make a profit when a specific medicine is
developed."
Carter
is the most prominent American to visit the island since Fidel Castro
took power in the 1959 revolution.
