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FBIS3-59752_30 | Ministry of Education 2. Repletion of System of Joint Research with the Private Sector 6. Promotion of Test and Applied Research by Means of Subsidies for Scientific Research Expenses "Test Research" 7. Promotion of JSPS "Social Cooperation Scientific Enterprises" | FY92 the foreign magazine centers had accumulated about 19,000 titles of foreign scientific magazines in the four fields; over 500,000 copies per year are made. Furthermore, in order to make research and educational materials more replete, ¥2.4111 billion (FY92, ¥2.32783 billion) are appropriated in FY93 for purchasing books for students, special books, foreign magazines, and electronic information materials. Along with that, to facilitate the modernization of the libraries by means of mechanization, ¥35.271 million are appropriated as expenses for book detection systems (equipment to prevent unauthorized borrowing of books), CD-ROM systems and audio-visual equipment systems; ¥2.413202 billion (FY92, ¥2.338834 billion) are appropriated as expenses needed for improving library services, e.g., basic operating expenses and keeping the library open at night. 4) Forming Databases In order to disseminate university researchers' research results within and outside of Japan, it is very important to organize vast amounts of information and make it available for use by forming databases in which the information is accumulated on computer-processable magnetic media. In FY93, ¥466.5 million (mentioned twice) are appropriated as expenses for the creation or purchase of databases at NACSIS. In addition, ¥121.0 million are appropriated as expenses for creating databases in universities, and ¥35.30 million for purchasing the international databases that are needed for providing information retrieval services to researchers. 5) Maintenance of Campus Information Networks (LANs) Since FY87 the MOE has been programmatically outfitting and maintaining campus information networks (campus LANs). This involves networking various kinds of computers together with optical fibers and other means so that numerical and graphical scientific information from laboratories can be utilized. In FY93 ¥99.83 million are appropriated for setting up a LAN at Kyushu University. 6) Maintenance, Repletion of Document Materials Centers The MOE maintains document materials centers and data materials centers so that it can centrally maintain data and primary materials for special fields and offer it for joint use throughout Japan, and create databases in those fields. The MOE found ways to make the operations of the National Cultural Research Materials Hall, and the document materials centers more replete in FY93. 2. Maintenance, Repletion of Scientific Materials (a) Maintenance of Animal Experiment Facilities To improve the accuracy of animal experiments and to facilitate more efficient breeding control, the MOE maintains modern animal experiment facilities. In FY93 the MOE will set up new animal experiment facilities at the University of the Ryukyus, and will equip the animal |
FBIS3-59752_46 | Ministry of Education 2. Repletion of System of Joint Research with the Private Sector 6. Promotion of Test and Applied Research by Means of Subsidies for Scientific Research Expenses "Test Research" 7. Promotion of JSPS "Social Cooperation Scientific Enterprises" | General Information Project (GIP)). This subcommittee plans research studies, provides data, sends representatives to intergovernmental conferences, and so forth. In FY93 ¥4.441 million are appropriated for those expenses. In addition, the MOE has been contributing trust funds to UNESCO since FY81 in order to take part in the "Western Pacific Joint Survey" (WESTPAC), which is implemented as a part of the IOC enterprise. Continued again in FY93, the funds equivalent to $30,000 are appropriated. Furthermore, funds equivalent to $80,000 are appropriated again in FY93 as trust funds for UNESCO IHP students. These donations started in FY92. Incidentally, in FY93, trust funds equivalent to $50,000 are appropriated for joint global environmental research efforts in the Asia-Pacific Region, which center on cooperation in the MAB project. (b) Cooperative Basic Science Efforts in Southeast Asia UNESCO creates networks among the universities and research institutes of Southeast Asian countries in the two fields of microbiology and the chemistry of natural products for the purpose of promoting basic science in Southeast Asia. Through these networks, UNESCO carries out exchange of young researchers, holds seminars and training courses, publishes newsletters, and so forth. In order to collaborate in these efforts, Japan has been contributing $100,000 every year as UNESCO trust funds since FY77 ($50,000 per year in FY75 and FY76). In FY93, funds equivalent to $100,000 are appropriated. 3. International Research Conferences (a) Sending Researchers to International Research Conferences To send Japan's prominent researchers to scientific international research meetings that are held overseas, during FY93 ¥215.471 million are appropriated (for 336 people) in the National Schools Special Account and ¥11.854 million (for 17 people) in the General Account. (b) Expenses for Holding International Symposia To activate international exchange and raise the level of research in universities, ¥191.874 million are appropriated in FY93 as expenses for inviting the front-line researchers of the world to national universities and for holding international symposia. (c) International Conferences Held in Japan Based on a Cabinet meeting understanding, ¥43.527 million in outlays are appropriated for the faculties of national universities to participate in conferences that the SCJ will hold in Japan (15th International Botanical Science Conference, 7th Pacific Scientists' Mid-Term Conference, 24th International Meeting of the Radio-Wave Science Federation, 6th International Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics Conference, and the 4th International Hydrology Conference) and for the famous researchers from foreign countries who participate in these conferences to give scientific lectures at national universities. |
FBIS3-59753_3 | Ministry of Health and Welfare 5. Investment and Loan System for R&D of Pharmaceuticals, etc. | (artificial organ transplants) - genetic treatment (including human gene sequence research) - drug-making technology (drug design, drug delivery systems, etc.) - safety evaluation science (regulatory science, risk management, etc.) - lifestyle support technology (rehabilitation science, welfare, lifestyle machinery, etc.) - health care technology evaluation methods (scientific research and evaluation of effectiveness, safety, efficiency, etc., of medical technology, etc.) Periodic revisions, generally about every five years, are seen as necessary. In addition, in August 1989 the report entitled "How Research Evaluations Should Basically Be," and in October 1991, "The Promotion of Human Genome Research in the Ministry of Health and Welfare" were compiled. Then, in July 1992 "The Promotion of Nursing Equipment R&D" and in April 1993 "Guidelines on Genetic Treatment Clinical Research" were compiled. C. Promotion of Test Research While dealing with the trends in S&T development described above, the MHW endeavors to promote test research, centering on priority research fields, by mustering the technology of its affiliated research institutes, universities, regional hygiene institutes, private-sector test research institutes, etc. The MHW's S&T budget is given in Table 1. Due to the situation today where the fields that the MHW handles are increasingly important, there has been a succession of new research projects in recent years. Projects are arranged in units of disease, i.e., cancer, cardiovascular disorders, mental and neurological disorders, diabetes, kidney failure, rheumatism, dementia, non-A-or-B-type hepatitis, and AIDS. Across-the-board projects are also emerging that are the kind of basic human science research aimed at gerontology research and joint government-private research for coping with an aged society. In the FY93 budget, there are additional new appropriations of ¥150 million for advanced medical research to implement studies geared toward the practical application of genetic treatment; ¥50 million for general research on nursing measures; and, from the viewpoint of new global environmental and health problems, the research outlays for promoting more advanced water service and waste treatment technology were rearranged and ¥360 million are appropriated for promoting global and health research projects aimed at the long-term maintenance of humankind's health in correspondence with environmental changes. In addition, as a major part of the "Stop AIDS" strategy, ¥1.731 billion are appropriated in the FY93 budget (an increase of ¥502 million, or 41% over the previous year) for research on AIDS countermeasures, which involves research on the prevention of AIDS outbreaks, methods of treating AIDS, the development of AIDS drugs, etc. Table 1. Summary |
FBIS3-59753_4 | Ministry of Health and Welfare 5. Investment and Loan System for R&D of Pharmaceuticals, etc. | research projects in recent years. Projects are arranged in units of disease, i.e., cancer, cardiovascular disorders, mental and neurological disorders, diabetes, kidney failure, rheumatism, dementia, non-A-or-B-type hepatitis, and AIDS. Across-the-board projects are also emerging that are the kind of basic human science research aimed at gerontology research and joint government-private research for coping with an aged society. In the FY93 budget, there are additional new appropriations of ¥150 million for advanced medical research to implement studies geared toward the practical application of genetic treatment; ¥50 million for general research on nursing measures; and, from the viewpoint of new global environmental and health problems, the research outlays for promoting more advanced water service and waste treatment technology were rearranged and ¥360 million are appropriated for promoting global and health research projects aimed at the long-term maintenance of humankind's health in correspondence with environmental changes. In addition, as a major part of the "Stop AIDS" strategy, ¥1.731 billion are appropriated in the FY93 budget (an increase of ¥502 million, or 41% over the previous year) for research on AIDS countermeasures, which involves research on the prevention of AIDS outbreaks, methods of treating AIDS, the development of AIDS drugs, etc. Table 1. Summary of MHW FY93 Budget for S&T (Unit: ¥1,000,000) Research outlays FY92 budget FY93 budget Contents Cancer research 1,850 1,850 Research on the subsidies prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer Outlays for 620 620 Research on the research on prevention, diagnosis, cardiovascular andtreatment of disease cardiovascular disease Outlays for 620 620 Research on neural and research on mental muscular disorders and and neurological developmental disorders handicaps Outlays for 200 250 Research on disease commissioning conditions in and international joint assistance measures medical research for developing countries Outlays for 21,367 23,052 Surveys of and medical research on research on specific specific diseases diseases, and medical research on chronic childhood diseases Outlays for 150 150 Research on the pediatric medicine causes, conditions, research diagnosis, treatment, etc., of various kinds of childhood diseases Outlays for 695 695 Research on the research on mental prevention and and physical treatment of mental handicaps and physical handicaps Outlays for health 8,520 9,500 Research for emergency science research issues directly confronting health and welfare administration Research on AIDS (1,228) (1,731) Research relating to countermeasures AIDS prevention, treatment, drug development, etc. Longevity science (1,654) (1,785) Promoting research comprehensive research, from basic to applied, in longevity science Ten-Year (1,844) (1,847) |
FBIS3-59753_10 | Ministry of Health and Welfare 5. Investment and Loan System for R&D of Pharmaceuticals, etc. | Strategy" was devised. The aim of the "Ten-Year Anti-Cancer Strategy" is to elucidate the true nature of cancer within 10 years. The program promotes advanced cancer research, such as research on oncogenes, by mobilizing intelligence from within and outside; it is an attempt to make those results reflect on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, and should be of use to people suffering from cancer. To that end, various efforts will be made as basic policies for achieving the following five goals: 1) setting priority research topics, 2) promoting concentrated, diversified research, 3) finding ways to nurture and employ young researchers, 4) promoting international cooperation centering on Japan and the U.S., and 5) maintaining support systems such as systems for supplying experimental materials. That which forms the core of the strategy is the promotion of priority, intensive, diversified research aimed at elucidating the essence of cancer. The research fields that will be tackled along the lines of the Ten-Year Anti-Cancer Strategy are the following six fields: 1) research on human cancer genes, 2) research on human carcinogenesis due to viruses,, 3) research on carcinogenic acceleration and suppression of that, 4) research in connection with the development of new technology for the early diagnosis of cancer, 5) research in connection with the development of treatment methods based on new theories, and 6) research on mechanisms of immunological suppression and control substances. Project teams are formed for each of the research fields promoted. These strategic efforts are being tackled by the government, universities, and the private sector. Within the government, the MHW, MOE, and STA collaborate in research on cancer. ¥1.847 billion are appropriated in the MHW's FY93 budget. This fiscal year is the last year of the Ten-Year Anti-Cancer Strategy. Now, the MOE is taking a hard look at the results of the research thus far and the future prospects, and studies are being made on the Post-Ten-Year Anti-Cancer Strategy. (3) Basic Human Science Research Research at the MHW had been carried out within a vertical system in the form of measures against individual diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disorders, incurable diseases, etc. But, amidst the remarkable developments in S&T, there is a need for the development of basic technologies in the broad areas of health care, medicine, and welfare. To that end, the MHW is to facilitate joint government-private research in basic science while continuing to actively make the |
FBIS3-59753_12 | Ministry of Health and Welfare 5. Investment and Loan System for R&D of Pharmaceuticals, etc. | best use of private-sector energy. Since FY88 it has been promoting that research under the name Basic Human Science Research, which had been called Longevity-Related Basic Scientific Research since FY86. The contents of that research are: 1) biotechnology applications and the development of evaluation technology, which form the basis of the life sciences; 2) the establishment of sugar-chain engineering as a new technology and the application of that in the fields of medicine and medical treatment; 3) research on technology for evaluating, improving, and developing the medical materials that form the basis for medical and welfare services; 4) elucidating the biodefense mechanisms that form the basis of health maintenance. (4) Expenses for New Medical Technology R&D These consist of three research outlays: New Medical Technology Developmental Research Expenses, Organ Technology Clinical R&D Expenses, and Emergency and Disaster Medical Treatment General Scientific Research Expenses. The New Medical Technology Developmental Research Expenses promoted the "New Medical Technology Research Expenses" that was instituted in FY64 in the form of joint industry-government-university project research since FY90. In FY93, research on the development of more efficient medical equipment was added, and ¥226 million was appropriated. The Organ Technology Clinical R&D Expenses, which were instituted in FY90, promote clinical research for establishing organ transplant technology and for safely and effectively carrying out organ transplants. This fiscal year, research on a network system for organ transplants within Japan, research in connection with the dissemination of information about organ transplants, and research on organ transplant coordinator technology were added. ¥100 million were appropriated for these expenses. Emergency and Disaster Medical Treatment General Scientific Research Expenses were instituted in FY91 for studying medical treatment in natural disasters and in urban group disasters. In FY93 ¥100 million are appropriated. Table 2. Summary of FY93 Health Research Expenses and Subsidies Budget (Unit: ¥1,000) Item FY92 FY93 Contents of research 1. Expenses for 100,000 100,000 Research in government health connection with the policies research evaluation of studies technology in health and medical fields, repletion of medical programs, repletion of medical radiation management and the development of techniques for promoting preventive dental care 2. Expenses for 741,183 751,476 health care research studies (1) Mental health 84,000 94,000 Research aimed at care research improving the quality expenses of mental health care and maintenance, promotion of the people's mental health (2) Expenses for 50,000 50,000 General scientific health promotion research relating to research studies the |
FBIS3-59753_19 | Ministry of Health and Welfare 5. Investment and Loan System for R&D of Pharmaceuticals, etc. | new medical technology (1) Expenses for 225,772 226,155 Research on the research on the development and development of new dissemination of new medical technology medical technology (Expenses for (200,000) (200,000) research on new medical technology) (Expenses for (25,772) (26,155) enterprises promoting the development of new medical technology) (2) Expenses for 100,000 100,000 Research in Clinical R&D of connection with Organ Technology improving the level of organ technology and scientifically promoting that technology (3) Expenses for 100,000 100,000 Research for general scientific developing diagnostic research on and treatment emergency and technology for use in disaster medical emergencies and treatment disasters, research on medical information technology, and research for developing medical equipment and facilities 12. Expenses for 100,000 100,000 Research on the general research on prevention and allergies treatment of allergic disorders 13. General 0 50,000 Research relating to research on nursing the development of measures effective nursing technology that can appropriately accommodate the changing needs in nursing ill people 14. Expenses for 0 360,000 Given the "Agenda 21" promoting global action program for health research regeneration of the projects earth, this research is aimed at long-term maintenance of humankind's health in correspondence with environmental changes Total 8,519,797 9,500,411 2. Outlays for Research on Specific Diseases This research consists of studies on specific diseases, and research on the treatment of specific diseases and specific chronic childhood diseases. The objectives of these efforts are to investigate incurable diseases whose causes are unclear and for which treatment methods are not established, and to establish treatment methods for those. In the FY93 budget, ¥23.052 billion are appropriated, which is an increase of ¥1.685 billion (7.8%) over that of FY92. 3. Other Important Research Expenses The cancer research subsidies are expenses for promoting cancer research. The outlays for commissioning research on cardiovascular diseases are for conducting research on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cerebral apoplexy and heart disease. The outlays for commissioning research on mental and neurological disorders are for conducting research on mental retardation resulting from mental and neurological handicaps, for research on muscular dystrophy due to muscular developmental disorders, etc. The expenses for commissioning research in pediatric medicine are for diagnosing, treating, and conducting research studies on childhood diseases that are difficult to cure. The expenses for commissioning international joint research are for conducting research in connection with disease conditions in and assistance measures for developing countries. 4. Test Research Organization Expenses The |
FBIS3-59753_22 | Ministry of Health and Welfare 5. Investment and Loan System for R&D of Pharmaceuticals, etc. | promoting research with long-term prospects for the 21st century. Table 3. Summary of MHW Research Organizations Name of organization Projects Institute of Population Problems Research studies on population problems Institute of Public Health Education and training of public health technicians Research studies on the application of scientific principles in connection with public health National Institute of Health and Research studies on maintenance, Nutrition promotion of the people's healthResearch studies on the people's nutrition and other eating styles National Institute of Health Searching for the causes of infectious and other specific diseases and those causes in connection with food sanitation, and research on prevention and treatmentTests, verification, etc., of pharmaceuticals, etc.Managing the breeding of primates Tama Research Institute Research studies on the prevention and treatment of leprosy National Institute of Medical Research studies on disseminating and Service and Hospital improving medical servicesResearch Administration studies on equipping and improving medical service organizationsHospital administration research studies and training National Institute of Hygienic Research and tests in connection with Sciences the effects of pharmaceuticals, foods, food additives, and other lifestyle-related chemical substances on human beingsTests, verification, etc., of pharmaceuticals, etc. National Cancer Center Research studies on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer and other malignant neoplasms National Cardiovascular Center Research studies on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disorders National Center for Mental Health Research studies on mental and Neurology Mental healthTraining mental health HealthInstitute Neurology techniciansResearch for improving Institute medical treatment Clinical Research Departments of Research on the development of methods the National Hospital and the based on clinical observations for National Sanatoria treating various kinds of diseases National Rehabilitation Center for Research studies in connection with the the Disabled rehabilitation of disabled people National Children's Hospital, Research on the prevention, diagnosis, National Pediatrics Institute and treatment of childhood illnesses 5. Investment and Loan System for R&D of Pharmaceuticals, etc. In order to ensure the people's health, and toward the realization of a vigorous, long-lived society, it is important to promote the R&D of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, etc., that make use of biotechnology, new materials, electronics, and other such leading-edge technologies in which there have been remarkable advances in recent years. To that end, ¥2.300 billion are appropriated in the FY93 budget for efforts toward more repletion of the investment and loan system based on the donations for promoting research on remedies for damages due to the side effects of pharmaceuticals. |
FBIS3-59754_4 | Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries B. Implementation of R&D To Cope with Important Policy Issues 3. R&D To Cope with Global Environmental and Tropical Agriculture Problems C. Strengthening Basic and Pioneering Research and Promoting Research Exchange 2. Promoting Research Exchange and Supporting Private-Sector R&D 1. Technology Development for Rationalizing Regionally Managed Agriculture 2. Research Strategy Measures for Development of Future Agricultural Technology 3. Development of Methods for Planning Agricultural Village Activation by Utilizing Regional Resources 4. Elucidation of Crop Hardening Mechanisms in Severely Cold Environments 5. Elucidating the Causes of and Predicting Future Fluctuations in Vegetable Supply and Demand 6. Research on Hybrid Wood Materials to Improve Housing Characteristics 7. Projects to Aid in the Preservation of Developing Countries' Genetic Resources 8. Basic Surveys of Climatic Fluctuations and Damages Due to Harmful Insects in Southern Asia 10. Research on Microorganisms That Live in Cows' Ruminant Stomachs 11. Development of Technology for Preventing the Spread of Harmful Naturalized Plants 12. Development of Vaccination Techniques for Preventing and Eradicating Viral Diseases in Cultivated Fish 13. Development of MHC Pure-Line Mini Pigs for Elucidating the Biological Defense Mechanisms of Livestock 14. Development of Assessment Methods for Advanced Utilization of Recombinants 15. Development of Technology for Utilizing and Evaluating the Functions with Which Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishery Products Contribute to Health Maintenance | To Cope with Global Environmental and Tropical Agriculture Problems The MAFF will carry out R&D that will contribute to solving global-scale environmental problems such as global warming, desertification, and the decline of tropical rainforests. In addition, the MAFF will invite researchers from developing countries and will efficiently implement joint research on tropical agriculture. Table 3. R&D To Cope with Global Environmental and Tropical Agriculture Problems (Unit: ¥1,000) Item FY92 budget FY93 budget 1. Enterprises to aid in the 0 18,442 preservation of developing countries' genetic resources 2. Development of technology 146,745 212,969 using agriculture, forestry and fishery ecosystems for controlling that which causes changes in the global environment 3. Basic surveys of climatic 0 10,740 fluctuations and the occurrence of damage due to harmful insects in southern Asia 4. Surveys and studies for 0 1,011 promoting environmental research 5. Development of 129,200 129,200 next-generation ecologically harmonious agricultural systems based on advancements in substance circulation 6. Promoting research on 776,493 828,225 tropical agriculture Invitational joint 97,233 143,434 international research on tropical agriculture Total 1,052,438 1,200,587 C. Strengthening Basic and Pioneering Research and Promoting Research Exchange In order to dramatically improve the productivity of agriculture, forestry and fisheries and the food industry by building upon the remarkable developments of advanced technologies in recent years, the MAFF will strengthen basic and pioneering research, starting with rice genome analytical research, and will continue to promote research exchange and support private-sector R&D. 1. Strengthening Basic and Pioneering Research (1) Development of Innovative Technology by Utilizing Advanced Technologies The MAFF will continue efforts such as the development of efficient methods of rice genome analysis, together with expanding its preparation of genetic molecular maps. The ministry will also implement new research to establish a new field of technology for utilizing as a resource insects that have useful functions and characteristics; and new research to find, identify, and produce microorganisms with useful properties that live in cows' ruminant stomachs. Furthermore, the MAFF will implement new efforts to develop methods for facilitating the practical application of recombinant DNA techniques in the fields of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; elucidate the functions with which agriculture, forestry, and fishery products contribute to health maintenance; and develop cultivation and distribution management techniques for augmenting the functionality of those products. (2) Strengthening the Base That Supports Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery R&D The MAFF will expand its gene bank enterprises to augment the gathering and |
FBIS3-59754_5 | Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries B. Implementation of R&D To Cope with Important Policy Issues 3. R&D To Cope with Global Environmental and Tropical Agriculture Problems C. Strengthening Basic and Pioneering Research and Promoting Research Exchange 2. Promoting Research Exchange and Supporting Private-Sector R&D 1. Technology Development for Rationalizing Regionally Managed Agriculture 2. Research Strategy Measures for Development of Future Agricultural Technology 3. Development of Methods for Planning Agricultural Village Activation by Utilizing Regional Resources 4. Elucidation of Crop Hardening Mechanisms in Severely Cold Environments 5. Elucidating the Causes of and Predicting Future Fluctuations in Vegetable Supply and Demand 6. Research on Hybrid Wood Materials to Improve Housing Characteristics 7. Projects to Aid in the Preservation of Developing Countries' Genetic Resources 8. Basic Surveys of Climatic Fluctuations and Damages Due to Harmful Insects in Southern Asia 10. Research on Microorganisms That Live in Cows' Ruminant Stomachs 11. Development of Technology for Preventing the Spread of Harmful Naturalized Plants 12. Development of Vaccination Techniques for Preventing and Eradicating Viral Diseases in Cultivated Fish 13. Development of MHC Pure-Line Mini Pigs for Elucidating the Biological Defense Mechanisms of Livestock 14. Development of Assessment Methods for Advanced Utilization of Recombinants 15. Development of Technology for Utilizing and Evaluating the Functions with Which Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishery Products Contribute to Health Maintenance | by building upon the remarkable developments of advanced technologies in recent years, the MAFF will strengthen basic and pioneering research, starting with rice genome analytical research, and will continue to promote research exchange and support private-sector R&D. 1. Strengthening Basic and Pioneering Research (1) Development of Innovative Technology by Utilizing Advanced Technologies The MAFF will continue efforts such as the development of efficient methods of rice genome analysis, together with expanding its preparation of genetic molecular maps. The ministry will also implement new research to establish a new field of technology for utilizing as a resource insects that have useful functions and characteristics; and new research to find, identify, and produce microorganisms with useful properties that live in cows' ruminant stomachs. Furthermore, the MAFF will implement new efforts to develop methods for facilitating the practical application of recombinant DNA techniques in the fields of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; elucidate the functions with which agriculture, forestry, and fishery products contribute to health maintenance; and develop cultivation and distribution management techniques for augmenting the functionality of those products. (2) Strengthening the Base That Supports Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery R&D The MAFF will expand its gene bank enterprises to augment the gathering and preservation of rare, endangered species and species whose environmental tolerance is limited in correspondence to the worsening of the global environment; and vigorously promote the development of crops. In addition, the MAFF will expand its fact databases as an information base. Table 4. Strengthening Basic and Pioneering Research (Unit: ¥1,000) Item FY92 budget FY93 budget 1. Development of innovative 2,804,962 3,051,021 technology by utilizing advanced technologies (1) Development of efficient 145,432 145,432 rice genome analysis methods and technology for utilizing genetic molecular maps (2) Creation of rice genome 306,191 364,137 genetic molecular maps (3) Development of DNA 29,113 14,132 management and utilization system (4) Basic research on turning 0 110,800 insects into resources and utilizing their functions (5) Development of industrial 0 89,955 technology for utilizing insects (6) Research on microorganisms 0 56,281 that live in cows' ruminant stomachs (7) Development of technology 0 32,278 for preventing the spread of harmful naturalized plants (8) Development of vaccination 0 23,331 techniques for preventing and eradicating viral diseases in cultivated fish (9) Development of MHC pure-line 0 24,271 mini pigs for elucidating the biological defense mechanisms of livestock (10) Development of assessment 0 101,740 methods for advanced utilization of recombinants (11) Research |
FBIS3-59755_12 | Ministry of International Trade and Industry 3. Formulation of a Five-Year Plan for Maintenance of MITI Research Facilities 1. Establishment of the Industrial S&T Frontier Program (ISTF) 2. Comprehensive Energy/Environmental Technology Development Promotion Projects (New Sunshine Project) 3. Promotion of R&D of Medical Equipment and Equipment for the Elderly and Disabled 1. Radical Augmentation of Energy/Environment Technology Development 2. Augmenting the Development of Technology for Realizing a Comfortable Way of Life 1. Comprehensive Promotion of International Research Cooperation | related to environmental technology, etc., based on the Energy-Conservation and Recycling Support Law - Extension of the system of special tax deductions in cases where the amount of test research expenses increased, etc. - Extension of the tax system for facilitating basic technology R&D - Extension of the special system of depreciation of disbursements to the Mining Industry Technology Association and extension of special system of income computation relating to the acquisition of fixed assets for test research (2) Support from the Japan Key Technology Center Investment and financing: ¥28.00 billion (of which ¥26.00 billion are industrial investments and financing) Investment and financing: ¥28.50 billion (of which ¥26.00 billion are industrial investments and financing) In order to facilitate private-sector test research relating to basic technologies, the Japan Key Technology Center runs an enterprise that finances test research companies jointly established by two or more private firms (up to 70% of the financing), and an enterprise that provides interest-free conditional financing for private firms' test research (up to 70% of the financing). The Japan Key Technology Center also acts as a go-between for private firms' joint research with national laboratories, commissions test research, invites researchers from foreign countries, provides valuable research information owned by government organizations, and conducts various surveys on key technologies. (3) Maintenance of the Base for Basic Research and Promotion of R&D Relating to DNA Analysis Analysis of DNA base sequences, which are the program of living organisms, is the most important basis of biotechnology R&D. MITI will research and develop high-precision and high-speed DNA base sequence analysis technology, and technology for processing information such as DNA base sequence data. The International Trade and Industry Inspection Institute will begin DNA base sequence analyses of living organisms such as microorganisms. C. Promotion of Industrial Science and Technology Development 1. Radical Augmentation of Energy/Environment Technology Development (1) Comprehensive Energy/Environmental Technology Development Promotion Projects (New Sunshine Project) ¥53.901 (50.255) billion Sustaining continued growth while overcoming environmental and energy constraints is an urgent issue for the world, and technological breakthroughs are essential. From such a viewpoint, MITI consolidated the AIST R&D programs for new energy technology (Sunshine Project), energy-conservation technology (Moonlight Project), and global environmental technology and devised the New Sunshine Project (energy/environmental technology development promotion projects). (2) Promotion of Practical Technology for Rationalizing Energy Usage ¥1.306 (0) billion In order to ensure the stable use of energy under environmental constraints, MITI |
FBIS3-59756_3 | Ministry of Transport 1. Research on Structural Safety Evaluation To Accommodate Lighter-Weight Ships 2. Research on Aircraft Monitoring Methods for Shorter Vertical Control Intervals 3. Research on Advanced Earthquake-Resistant Design Methods for Seaside Facilities To Withstand Strong Earthquakes Directly Beneath Tokyo 4. Research on Technology for Evaluating the Safety of Advanced Urban Railway Transit Systems 5. Research on Advanced Technology for Predicting Global Warming 6. Research on Methods of Platform Testing ABS-Equipped Large Vehicles 8. Research on Advanced Methods of Identifying Trace Amounts of Lubricating Oil (Expenses for National Laboratories' Test Research on Pollution Prevention, etc.) 9. Research on Technology for Utilizing Human Perception and Sensory Functions in Nuclear Power Plant Operation (Expenses for Nuclear Power Test Research at National Laboratories) 10. Basic Research on Foundation Measures for Nuclear Power Facilities in Coastal Regions (Expenses for Nuclear Power Test Research at National Laboratories) | Research at Major Research Institutes Table 2 shows the items implemented as special research in FY93, centering on MOT research institutes. This table also includes research items based on budgets appropriated in lump sums for other ministries and agencies and special accounts. Below we will explain those items that warrant special mention, centering on new research items. 1. Research on Structural Safety Evaluation To Accommodate Lighter-Weight Ships From now on, the demand for larger and faster ships is expected to increase, and various types of high-speed ships are being developed in Japan and other countries. With that, the current safety standards for light-structure ships are being revised by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and safety standards for the new high-speed ships are being studied in Japan as well. This research involves investigating structural safety, which is closely related to the safety of high-speed ships. Because the existing design standards are not applicable to some parts of the new types of ships, necessitating safety evaluation by means of direct calculations, the MOT will investigate weight-setting methods, structural analysis methods, and strength evaluation methods for that; clarify the necessary and sufficient conditions for ensuring safety; and study methods of safety inspections based on actual ship measurements. 2. Research on Aircraft Monitoring Methods for Shorter Vertical Control Intervals With the increase in the volume of air traffic, it is expected that altitudes of 29,000 ft and higher 1,000-ft vertical intervals will have to be adopted in order to effectively use air space. With that there has arisen a need for setting up a system that monitors, detects, and excludes aircraft whose altitude maintenance error exceeds a certain value. This effort involves researching the feasibility, configuration, etc., of a monitoring system for the purpose of establishing technology for monitoring aircraft altitude maintenance error. 3. Research on Advanced Earthquake-Resistant Design Methods for Seaside Facilities To Withstand Strong Earthquakes Directly Beneath Tokyo Recently, the increasing probability of a powerful earthquake occurring directly beneath Tokyo has been indicated, and the investigation of how Tokyo's seaside facilities will hold up in such a scenario has become an urgent issue. Accordingly, the MOT will conduct research to infer earthquake engineering characteristics, the dynamic behavior of structures and foundations that would result from such an earthquake, the amount of structural deformation in such a disaster, etc., in order to improve the level of earthquake-resistant design methods for seaside facilities. 4. |
FBIS3-59757_18 | Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications B. Promotion of Pioneering R&D in the Field of Telecommunications D. Major FY93 Research Efforts at the Communications Research Laboratory 1. R&D of Advanced Satellite Communications and Broadcast Technology 2. Research on a Next-Generation Communications-Broadcast R&D Satellite 5. R&D of High-Accuracy Time and Space Measurement Technology Using Cosmic Radio-Wave Emissions 8. Research on Communications Technology Based on Small Satellites 9. Augmenting Related Observations During the Term of the STEP Program 10. Research on Space Communications in Distributed Satellite Systems 11. Research on Two-Frequency Doppler Radar for Observing Rainfall from Space 12. R&D of Global Environmental Measurement Technology Based on Sensors That are Active in Certain Optical Regions 13. Research on Global Environmental Measurement Technology Using Short-Wavelength Millimeter-Band Electromagnetic Waves 14. R&D in Connection With Constructing Global Environmental Measurement Information Networks 15. International Joint Research on Advanced Electromagnetic Wave Utilization Technology for the Global Environment 16. Research on Global Environmental Measurement Technology Based on High-Resolution 3-D Microwave Imaging Radar 2. Japan Key Technology Center Funding and Investment Enterprises | characteristics that electromagnetic waves have in optical regions, and the R&D of optical communications using spatially propagated signals that do not degrade under poor atmospheric conditions, such as fog. During FY93 the MPT will maintain the receiving sections that will be used in model communications experiments and begin the trial production of an antenna for both optical and radio-wave use. (3) R&D of Technology for Intelligent and Effective Utilization of Radio Waves In order to cope with the increasing demand for on-land mobile wireless communications and the diversification of transmitted information, since FY85 the MPT has been involved in R&D for using the quasi-microwave-band in on-land mobile communications. During FY93 the MPT will research and develop technology for intelligent and effective utilization of radio waves that is based on the research results obtained thus far. The technology involves dynamically changing system configurations in correspondence with the usage of frequencies in the quasi-microwave band in order to use radio waves as effectively as possible. (4) R&D of Millimeter-Wave Private Communications Technology Concomitant with the development of an advanced information society in recent years, the demands for high-speed, high-volume wireless transmission and private transmission are rapidly expanding. To deal with that, MPT's efforts during FY93 involve the maintenance of a system for experimenting with millimeter-wave radio-wave propagation, fading-related R&D, and trial producing a flat millimeter-wave antenna. (5) R&D of Mobile Microwave-Band Communications Technology (New) To cope with the tightness of frequencies concomitant with the increased demand for mobile communications and the introduction of sophisticated services in recent years, the MPT will research and develop the technologies needed for realizing microwave-band (3-10 GHz) mobile communications systems. During FY93 the MPT will maintain devices for measuring microwave-band reception electric field strength characteristics and multipath propagation characteristics. (6) R&D of Technology for Effective Utilization of Broadcast Frequencies (New) To cope with the tightness of ground-based broadcast frequencies, the MPT will carry out R&D relating to the basic technologies for effective utilization of broadcast frequencies: basic technologies relating to the introduction of digital technology in broadcasting systems, i.e., achieving narrower bandwidths by means of efficient compression, achieving faster transmission by efficient modulation, reducing ghost and noise trouble, and reducing the electric power needed for transmission. Efforts during FY93 include the investigation of information compression technology using encoding methods that are suited to broadcasting, and the R&D of technology for efficient compression and encoding of high-detail moving |
FBIS3-59763_0 | Shape Memory Alloys Find Multiple Uses | Language: English Article Type:CSO [Text] Crumple a sheet of aluminum foil and then heat it up. Nothing changes. Now do the same thing with a sheet formed from a shape-memory alloy. The crumpled mass unfolds into a sheet again. Shape-memory alloys are among the most fascinating of new materials for this unique ability to return to their original shape when heated, no matter how badly they have been distorted at a lower temperature. Until recently, speculation on their potential raced far ahead of actual applications. But the alloys are now finding widening use in a broad range of fields, from consumer electronics to women's clothing to dental prosthetics. Shape-memory alloys are one class of intermetallic compounds, a special group of two-metal alloys. What makes them unique is their molecular structure. When a typical metal is heated or cooled, bonding between atoms changes. But in a shape-memory alloy, the bonds between adjacent atoms remain very strong. As a result, the material is very elastic and although it can be deformed below a certain temperature, it returns to its original shape when reheated. These two unique properties of shape-memory alloys are being utilized in a variety of applications. In England, a shape-memory alloy has been used as the hinges for greenhouse windows. When the outdoor air reaches a certain temperature, the hinges change shape, opening the window in the process. Storage Applications In Japan, shape-memory alloys are being used to help keep the air dry inside storage units holding chemicals, camera lenses and other moisture-sensitive products. A shape-memory alloy is used for the spring which controls a door separating the storage room from the unit containing the moisture-absorbing desiccant. When the desiccant can no longer absorb moisture, a heater kicks, triggering the spring to shut the door. With the storage area thus protected from exposure to moisture, the desiccant can be reconditioned. Consumer-electronics manufacturers are using shape-memory alloys to give air conditioners added value. When the air conditioner is used to heat the room, a spring made from shape-memory alloy contracts, pulling the flaps down so the hot air is blown toward the floor. The tremendous elasticity of shape-memory alloys has been used to make eyeglass frames and women's brassieres. In the dental field, the alloys are being used for artificial-tooth roots. The branches of a tooth root made from a shape-memory alloy are straight when the dentist implants the root in |
FBIS3-59765_1 | MITI To Aid Plastic Processing Industry's Expansion in Asia | expansion of the plastic processing industry in Asia, acting mainly through ASEAN. The plastic processing industry has many small and mid-sized companies, and business expansion on a global scale has lagged behind other industries. In addition to its current measures to combat the high value of the yen, MITI has decided that healthy business growth will be impossible without expansion in Asia, which is a site of potential growth. Furthermore, various countries in Asia are looking to Japanese industry to raise the level of their plastic processing technology and train their personnel, so mutual exchanges of personnel are on the rise. In addition to ROK and Taiwan, the petrochemical industry is expanding rapidly in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. At the same time, in these countries the plastic processing industry is expanding as well in step with the rapid growth in assembly industries such as the electric/electronics industry and a higher standard of living. According to MITI, Thailand alone has about 3000 plastic processing companies. The fact is, however, that international expansion by Japanese plastic processing companies has lagged behind other industries. MITI contends that we cannot expect future growth in this industry without expansion in Southeast Asia, which is becoming a major consumer site. Therefore, MITI will begin a study to allow for Japanese companies to make capital investments and provide technical training in Asia in a smooth manner, and also to raise the level of technology in the region and cooperate in personnel training. MITI plans to conduct this study through the Japan High Polymer Center, a non-profit corporation with experience in overseas technical cooperation such as a plastic processing testing and inspection project in Uruguay and a water-retaining materials project in Egypt. MITI plans to begin a new policy of global expansion through mutual exchanges of personnel with Asia, which continues to grow rapidly not only as an export base to the U.S. and Europe, but also as a huge consumer market. The New Fiber Vision, for which an interim report was recently released, also proposes the establishment of a new global strategy centered on Asia. In the petrochemical industry as well, a Southeast Asia study group will be dispatched by the International Supply & Demand Subcommittee of the Petrochemical Product Supply & Demand Research Institute. All this will add impetus to expansion in Asia in fields related to the chemical industry. |
FBIS3-59776_0 | Calcium Diffused Ceramics for Artificial Bone Developed | Language: Japanese Article Type:CSO [Text]A group led by professor Takaichi Kubo at the Department of Science and Engineering, Kinki University, has successfully diffused calcium into a substrate of oxide ceramic by using laser implantation. Laser implantation employs a laser to diffuse substances on the surface of a material into its interior. Calcium is one component of bone, and because it is highly compatible with the human body, this achievement brings us one step closer to the development of a material that can be used as artificial bone. Human bone is mainly composed of a substance called hydroxyapatite, which contains calcium and phosphorous. By using laser implantation to diffuse calcium, one of the major components of bone, throughout the substrate, the group has created a material that will not be rejected by the body. It is expected that laser implantation will be a simpler method of modifying materials than ion implantation. In laser implantation, a substance is deposited onto the surface of a substrate by vapor deposition. It is then irradiated by a laser from above, which causes it to diffuse into the substrate. Professor Kubo's group applied this technique with calcium. They placed a vessel containing a substrate of alumina, an oxide ceramic, in a vacuum and deposited calcium onto its surface by vapor deposition. Then they irradiated the surface from above with a high-energy excimer laser, which caused the calcium and alumina to melt and flow together. When they analyzed the substrate, they found that the calcium and alumina had formed a mixed layer within the substrate, thus confirming successful surface modification. At this point no experiments have been performed to determine the effects on the body of ceramics formed by this method. However, both calcium and alumina have highly biocompatible properties, so it is expected that there will be no problem in using this ceramic material as artificial bone to replace damaged areas, as teeth, etc. Professor Kubo's group believes that surface modification using hydroxyapatite is also possible, which would form a material even more compatible with the body. However, it will be difficult to get phosphorous to diffuse using the present technique, so in the future this group will search for a phosphate compound that can be used in this procedure and try to form hydroxyapatite. |
FBIS3-59783_2 | Present Status and Trend of Electric Vehicles | Meanwhile, MMC has performed a series of research and development on EVs as shown in Table 1. This research was initially commenced in 1966 when they started the development and research of basic technologies for the vehicle propelling electric motor, battery, etc. which are EV's basic components. Beginning with the development of an electric-powered bus in 1973, MMC developed various EVs using their products such as the MINICAB, DELICA, MINICA, etc. as bases and produced about one hundred and twenties of EVs up to now. In 1991 MMC and The Tokyo Electric Power Co., Ltd. succeeded in the joint development of an EV version Lancer which incorporated various electric motor-, motor control- and battery-related new technologies and significantly exceeded all conventional EVs in driving performance. 3. Required Performance The EV version Lancer was developed aiming at providing it with driving performance and the capability of creating a comfortable driving environment which had never been previously attained by conventional EVs while taking into consideration the problems experienced with the EVs which were previously used in metropolitan areas. 3.1 Driving Performance To determine a driving performance that would ensure an inherent handling which was comparable to that of internal combustion engine vehicles on both general roads and the expressways, running speeds and accelerations/decelerations were measured by performing actual test runs on general roads and expressways in the metropolitan area (Figure 1). From the measurement results, maximum speed and accelerating ability that the EV version Lancer was expected to have were determined as shown in Table 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Table 2. Target Values of EV Performance | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Item |Target value |Reason | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Maximum speed |100 km/h or more |To be able to follow the | | | |vehicle flow on expressw-| | | |ays (see Fig. 1) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Maximum accelerating abi-|1.5 m/s<sup> 2</sup> |To have enough accelerat-| |lity | |ive performance for in-c-| | | |ity driving (see Fig. 1) | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Maximum hill-climbing ab-|0.3 (tan &thgr;) |To be able to climb ramp-| |ility | |s from underground parki-| | | |ng lots | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Distance covered on a fu-|200 km or more (at a con-|To have twice or more po-| |lly charged battery |stant speed of 40 km/h) |wer storage capacity as | | | |required to avoid run-do-| | | |wn during driving | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The hill-climbing ability was determined taking in consideration ramps from underground parking lots and |
FBIS3-59786_1 | The Institute of Applied Energy Releases Mid- to Long-Term Vision for the Next 5 Years | providing the most far-sighted and best possible research to meet the demands of both the public and private sector. In terms of business activities, the institute is involved with the following: (1) Collecting and evaluating data on energy technologies (2) Conducting surveys on energy technologies and setting directions of growth (3) Proposing policies and strategies for developing energy technologies (4) Conducting international exchange programs, and sponsoring educational programs related to energy technologies The key research projects covered areas such as nuclear energy, fossil fuel energy, new energy and/or energy systems, or those that combine one or another of the above areas. The research projects were further subdivided into those that have already begun, those with short-term goals, and those with long-term goals. Nuclear power is expected to become the main source of energy by the 21st century, but because of the strong anti-nuclear sentiments in Japan, the institute says it will work harder to make light-water reactor technology more refined and sophisticated by trying to depict nuclear reactors as beneficial and not dangerous. Another important area of research is finding a quick solution to the problem of treating and disposing of high-level radioactive wastes. In the area of fossil fuel energies, the institute plans to continue working on research to perfect the natural gas/methanol cycle, and at the same time promote research on methane hydrates, which are non-conventional sources of natural gas, by the electric power and gas companies. With respect to coal, the institute wants to subject coals such as lignite and brown coal to thermal decomposition and develop a low-temperature carbonization method for making a low-grade coal in which a 15% gasoline-diesel distillate and a 60% low-temperature coke (equal to average coal) can be obtained. By doing this, the institute hopes to use spontaneous combustion to find effective uses for brown coal resources which are hard to transport over great distances. As for oil, in addition to looking for ways to perfect uses for asphalt by-products, the institute will continue its research on developing a high-efficiency garbage burning generation system that uses oil. In terms of expanding the range of uses for super-heavy oil, it plans to develop emulsion fuels from asphalt distillates and tar sand by dispersing super-heavy oils in water, or conversely, dispersing water within super heavy oil, mixing this with calcium ions to improve combustibility, so that it can be used to desulfurize reactor cores. |
FBIS3-59791_21 | Progress in Optical Fiber Production Technology | it is necessary for the fibers to be aligned as precisely as possible. For this alignment, the sides of the fibers are illuminated, and their position is thereby confirmed for proper alignment during splicing. Confirmation of core position is conducted automatically through image processing based on information from a CCD camera. At present, the loss due to splicing is at the extremely low level of 0.03 dB. To join ultrahigh-fiber-count cables, fiber by fiber splicing would take an immense amount of time. Therefore, a technology has been developed whereby fiber ribbons are joined all at once. For this mass fusion splicing technique, it is necessary that each fiber that is to be spliced should be heated identically with electrical discharge energy. It is set so that all the fibers in a ribbon are placed in the position where the energy is uniformly distributed. This is shown in Figure 14. In this method, ribbons of up to sixteen fibers can be simultaneously spliced. A fully automatic fusion splicer is being developed. This machine will automatically conduct operations from jacket removing to reinforcing after splicing. When use of this fusion splicer is begun, splicing will be possible at about four times the speed of conventional splicing machines. The industry is looking forward to this machine as it will create great labor savings and shorten training time as well. 2. Connectors Even with the development of a fusion splicer that can handle sixteen fibers at once, quite a long time is needed to splice ultrahigh-fiber-count cables such as those that encase four thousand fibers. Even with the fully automatic fiber splicer, calculations show that it would take a full day to splice cables of this type. Therefore, discussions are being held regarding the development of high-count-fiber connectors. Thefiber count in a connector so far developed is sixteen. The connectors line up the cores of mating fibers by inserting two pins called guide-pins into the guide-holes on both sides of the fiber ribbon. The accuracy of the alignment is within 1 &mgr;, and the loss due to splicing has reached an average level of 0.2 dB. The structure of the connector is shown in Figure 15. The development of eighty-fiber connectors is also in progress. There are two methods: one in which eighty fibers are lined up in one row, and the other in which sixteen fiber connectors are arranged in five vertical rows. |
FBIS3-59795_1 | Editorial Expresses High Regard for STA's New Director General's Proposal for International Management of Plutonium | cons and other problems of nuclear energy, where emotions have tended to take precedence in the past. The overall nuclear picture in the international community consists of the United States, which touts nuclear non-proliferation but wears the armor of global strategy which is visible under its robe, China and several ``suspected nuclear countries,'' which are defying the United States, and Russia, which has been trying to dispose of nuclear warheads since the disassembling of the former Soviet Union. The focus of this is on plutonium. The sole reason for such concern about plutonium is that it can easily be converted to use in nuclear weapons. Unlike uranium that requires enrichment, plutonium produced in a nuclear reactor can be separated, extracted and used almost as is for nuclear weapons, and this can be done with only basic chemical knowledge. Enriched uranium can be mixed with natural uranium to lower its concentration and make it difficult to convert to nuclear weapon use, but in contrast, there is no effective means to prevent the conversion of plutonium. Furthermore, use of plutonium in nuclear power plants, certainly in fast breeder reactors but even in light water reactors and other types of nuclear reactors, is disadvantageous in terms of economical operation; and it is difficult to say that the safety of the technology has been verified fully. The current environment is such that insisting on plutonium use at this time would tend to create suspicion that there is an intention to develop nuclear weapons. It probably is true that this sort of suspicion is hidden behind some of the domestic and foreign criticism. There are a number of reasons and one big one is that the government has not provided sufficient appropriate explanation to gain the people's understanding. There is plenty to reflect upon, such as whether the petitions and views of civic groups opposed to plutonium use have been heeded with humility, or whether it was thought that it would be sufficient to provide technical explanations that were over the heads of residents with little expert knowledge. Ensuring transparency in the use of plutonium is the most important goal of international control. The statement Director General Eda made at the IAEA general meeting probably resulted from an STA study. International transparency is supported by domestic transparency. It needs to be stressed that efforts to gain domestic understanding will lead to understanding in the international |
FBIS3-59800_7 | FY94 Nuclear Energy Related Budget Proposal Nuclear Energy Budget Proposal Tables | Waste Disposal radioactive waste Measures disposal system. 6. General 4 4 Training and Expenses for Administration nuclear power related employees. TOTAL 276 287 Compared to preceding FY: 104.0% (NOTES: Unit is ¥1 million) III. MITI/Diversification Account of Electric Power Resource Development Special Account Item FY93 Budget Requested FY94 Notes Budget 1. Uranium 750 524 Survey and study of Enrichment technological trends Enterprise Creation in creation of uranium Survey Consignment enrichment technology (MITI Portion) related enterprise. Surveys to confirm reconversion and storage system technologies for uranium depleted during uranium enrichment. 2. Subsidy for 412 413 Survey of metallic Metallic Uranium uranium production Production System methods compatible Development Survey with uranium Cost enrichment by atomic laser method. 3. Subsidy for 2,300 3,051 Technological Survey of Development of Development of experimental equipment Atomic Laser Uranium and laser systems for Enrichment atomic laser uranium Technology enrichment technology. 4. Pluthermal Use 210 248 Pluthermal use MOX MOX Fuel Technology fuel fabrication Confirmation Survey technology Consignment confirmation testing in preparation for full-scale use. 5. MOX Fuel 45 0 Survey and Study of Privatization Survey technological trends Consignment concerning MOX fuel fabrication privatization. 6. Spent Fuel 1,450 1,400 Testing to confirm Reprocessing reprocessing Promotion Subsidy technology introduced from abroad. 7. Reprocessing 1,030 1,030 Survey of trends in Technology Upgrade technologies to Survey Consignment improve recycling (MITI Portion) processes and evaluation of feasibility and economic merits of introduction. 5;1 8. Radioactive 1,600 1,364 Advanced radioactive Waste Disposal waste disposal system Standards Survey confirmation tests. Consignment Survey of development of system for effective use of radioactive waste. Survey of development of system for uranium waste disposal. Survey of TRU waste processing and storage measures. Survey of radioactive waste standards for dismantling of nuclear power generation facilities. 9. Radioactive Waste 70 70 Subsidy for barrier Disposal Technology property retention Development technology for low Promotion Subsidy level radioactive (MITI Portion) waste final storage facility. 10. LWR Modification 9,592 9,242 Confirmation testing Technology of LWR modification Confirmation Testing technologies such as Consignment high burnup fuel, advanced anti-seismic structure site technology and high performance steam generators; development of advanced inspection technologies; development of operational environment improvement technologies; development of human factor related technologies; confirmation testing of spent fuel storage technologies. 11. Practical Power 1,185 1,120 Improvement of safety Generation Reactor analysis code to Safety Analysis Code cross-check results of Modification safety analysis in Consignment connection with approval of establishment of nuclear power plants |
FBIS3-59800_12 | FY94 Nuclear Energy Related Budget Proposal Nuclear Energy Budget Proposal Tables | 114 Central and East IAEA European support contribution to IAEA. 5. Electric Power Resource Regional Promotion Policy (Siting Policy) (a) Electric Power 34,872 28,285 Facilities in regions Resource Site around power generation Promotion Policy facilities. Grant (b) Grant to Regions 21,338 21,407 Granting of benefits to Surrounding Nuclear residents and firms in Power Generation regions surrounding Facilities nuclear power generation facilities or measures to introduce businesses and modernize industries in regions where residents of such regions normally can be employed. (c) Measures To 45 60 Consignment of regional Promote Nuclear Fuel promotion programs for Cycle Facility Site nuclear fuel cycle Regions Out of Fund facility site regions. for Consignment of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Related Promotion Coordination (d) Subsidy for Hot 600 600 Support for marine Water Drainage in products promotion Electric Power programs in [regions Resource Site with] new or expanded Regions nuclear power [facilities]. (e) Grant for Wide 600 600 Support for wide area Area Hot Water marine products Drainage promotion programs by Countermeasures in local governments in Electric Power [regions with] new or Resource Site expanded nuclear power Regions [facilities]. (f) Grant for Social 50 490 Grants to social Welfare Measures in welfare programs Regions Surrounding carried out by cities, Nuclear Power towns and villages with Generation local allocation taxes Facilities where nuclear power generation facilities are located. (g) Regional 500 500 Support for regional Symbiotic Type Power promotion programs Generation Facility carried out by cities, Site Emergency towns and villages Promotion Grant using resources (steam, hot water drainage) from power plants. (h) Subsidy for 790 790 For especially Important Electric important areas, Power Resource Site subsidies for advanced Promotion Measures area tour groups and other survey programs, test-manufacturing of products, plant cultivation and marketing programs. (i) Electric Power 3,913 5,371 Support to industrial Resource Regional stimulation for Industry Nurturing long-term development Support Subsidy by cities, towns and villages of electric power resource regions and support to training programs by Electric Power Resource Regional Promotion Center, Ltd. (j) Grant for 0 2,500 Grants for public Important Electric facility maintenance Power Resource Sites programs by cities, Requiring towns and villages Countermeasures where designated important electric power resource sites requiring countermeasures are located. TOTAL 92,042 93,209 Compared to Preceding FY: 101.3% (NOTES: Unit is ¥1 million) V. Fiscal Investments and Loans Item FY93 Budget Requested FY94 Notes Budget 1. Overseas Out of 700 Out of 1,700 Investment and loans Prospecting |
FBIS3-59803_1 | Saddam, Rafsanjani Said Preparing for Summit | 'Ali Mohammadi, the official responsible for the Iraqi committee in Khamene'i's office, to limit the activities of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq [SAIRI], led by Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim. These tribunals attended diligently to the tasks Khamene'i himself assigned to them, in al-Hakim's presence, who went to confront the investigationa and left depressed and worried about the future because tribunal officials insisted upon a a wide-ranging investigation of the funds al-Hakim and his supporters had received from the Iranian Government. Despite the fact that Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim opposed the investigative tribunal, and his group refused to give out the information demanded of them, Mohammadi went to the Ministry of Intelligence (security), which in the previous week had engaged in two raids on al-Hakim's Tehran and Qom offices. The raids took place simultaneously at all the offices, and the Ministry arrested numerous leaders of al-Hakim's group on charges of financial corruption and forging government documents. In the first raid, mounted by the security forces on al-Hakim's offices, Iranian officials met no significant resistance on the part of al-Hakim's supporters, who were relying on al-Hakim's closeness to Ayatollah Khamene'i, whose had supported him in the past when Iranian security agencies and other agencies responsible for the Iraqi opposition tried to limit al-Hakim's influence. But the supporters of the head of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, who with his entourage has established an empire not unlike the "empire" of PLO leader Yasir 'Arafat, did show opposition to the second raid, which resulted in the arrest of the director of the recruiting office in Qom, Sayyid Ibrahim Lajvardi and a number of al-Hakim's other followers and confidants. High-ranking and well-informed diplomatic sources have confirmed to AL-WATAN AL-'ARABI that al-Hakim suffered a severe shock, because what the Ministry of Intelligence did was part of a startling context that indicated the coming of normalized Iranian-Iraqi relations. This was after word circulated in Tehran of the forthcoming visit of Foreign Minister 'Ali Akbar Velayati to Baghdad, and Velayati's meeting, prior to these events, with his Iraqi counterpart, Muhammad Sa'id al-Sahhaf, in New York, and their agreement on the exchange of visits of the two countries' officials. What could "Abu-Sadiq" [al-Hakim] do but go, as he usually does in these circumstances, to the leader, Khamene'i, who had always stood by him in the blackest times, and supported him at the |
FBIS3-59804_1 | Rafsanjani Considers Saudis Key to His Success | and to send Velayati on a mission, the purpose of which stretches beyond the diplomatic reasons given at the time, namely the improvement of relations between the Gulf states and Iran and concern for regional security. The study, which was surrounded by great secrecy, referred quite plainly and clearly to the enormous difficulties facing the Islamic regime in Iran. The study warned that those difficulties might lead to an explosive situation in the capital itself similar to the one that took place in the cities of Meshed, Shiraz, and Arak last year when the disturbances and demonstrations were a warning of an imminent danger, which made the officials aware of the possibility of a confrontation between the people and the regime. The study highlighted the economic aspect, which it viewed as the strongest factor in influencing the regime and altering its tendencies and policies, and probably leading to its demise "unless bold and courageous decisions are taken to restore to the people its faith in the Government and its Administration as well as in those in charge of the situation in Iran." The study allocated a large section to the relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in light of the important changes and developments in the region following the second Gulf war. The study quoted Rafsanjani as saying that there was no way for Iran to survive and enhance the trust between the people and the government, and to improve the economic conditions, except through the improvement of relations with Riyad and said "which is the key to the solution of all our economic, political, and even social problems." But the wishes of Rafsanjani and even Khamene'i soon clashed with the fundamentalist factions and the Khomeyni issue. In his will, Khomeyni had indeed left strong words that could create problems for Rafsanjani, as well as to the mentor of the revolution, and lead to a fierce outbreak of the internal situation should they attempt to draw close to Saudi Arabia. This issue was raised by Ahmad Khomeyni during the meeting of the Supreme Council for National Security. The study answered the issue by stressing the need for a Rafsanjani initiative and for a statement expressing his desire to visit Riyad. As to the timing of the visit, the study indicated that it should take place during the Hajj in view of its effects and impact on the Iranian people |
FBIS3-59805_1 | Islamic Groups: Similarities, Relationships Noted | announced the impending release of the hostages. Scapegoat The Islamist operation was spectacular, all the more so because it crowned a series of attacks against foreigners, carried out within one month, in every corner of Algeria, by the GIA or the related GUD (Jihad United Group). What is the reason for this general anti-European, and above all anti-French offensive? Paris is not just the traditional scapegoat of Algerians of all persuasions, or the natural target of the "bearded brothers" who claim to be the heirs of the anti-French mujahidins of the fifties. The xenophobic outburst is not just an easy answer to the extreme violence used by Algerian authorities: widespread use of torture, summary executions, over 100 death sentences. As in Egypt, the hunt for foreigners is also the result of an Islamist strategy of economic war, which attempts to deprive the Algerian State of most of its revenues. Islamists know that foreigners who work in Algeria play a key part in the economy. But French-Islamist disagreements are also political. Even the most moderate Islamists, such as the former chairman of the FIS foreign relations commission, Rabah Kebir, blame French officials for their "aggressiveness and provocative talk," which contrast with their formerly more balanced behavior. This political protest of the "bearded brothers" does not explain everything. The kidnappings and negotiations of October 1993 were overseen by the two most extremist trends in the Islamist nebula. These trends have special reasons for attacking Frenchmen and foreigners. To begin with, the GIA was born of the al-Takfir Oua El-Hidjra (Repudiation and Renunciation) organization created in 1971 on the banks of the Nile by engineer Choukri Mustapha. Before his execution, the latter had already specialized in the kidnapping and assassination of personalities such as the former Egyptian minister of religious affairs, Shaykh Dahab. Back in 1974, the very clandestine al-Takfir Algerian branch already disseminated tracts denouncing "the impiety of society" and advocating the use of armed force to institute an Islamic State. Ten years later, the movement was one of the first in the Arab world to systematically send its militants to Afghanistan, to be trained in armed struggle. After that, al-Takfir took part in the October 1988 and summer 1991 riots before joining the FIS. Until January 1992, al-Takfir supporters controlled the En-Nour mosque in Algiers and recruited adherents in two working-class suburbs east of Algiers, Beni Merad and Ben Zerga. Then, |
FBIS3-59813_0 | Official Announces Plans for Uranium Production | Language: Arabic Article Type:CSO [Article by Muhammad 'Asim] [Text] Dr. Nabil al-Hadhiq, head of the Atomic Energy Authority, said that four locations of granite rocks have been discovered and designated for the first time in Sinai and in the eastern desert. The rocks contain 15,000 tons of uranium, the production of which will begin at the end of the present five-year plan that ends in 1997. He said that work on those locations has been going on for more than 15 years, during which time more than 70 locations were discovered in various parts of the republic. Infrastructures, including plants, research units, and equipment have been installed near those locations during this time. He added that there is no alternative to the utilization of uranium, now that it is being employed in all peaceful aspects of life, including treatments in hospitals, fertilizing agricultural land, operating turbines for electric power generation. Egypt's electricity production does not exceed 60 billion kilowatt hours annually, while a nuclear reactor can produce 600 megawatts with the power of 100 tons of uranium. He said that so far Egypt did not produce any uranium. Uranium production no longer poses a danger after adequate safety measures have been created. He said that the whole world now uses uranium in all fields of life. According to IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] estimates, world oil deposits will run out within 30 years, natural gas within 45 years, and coal within 200 years, while uranium deposits are sufficient to last 500 years on the basis of current utilization. He said that while the search for uranium is being carried out, the Authority has been producing other minerals, such as rutile, which is used in manufacturing steel rods, paints, amd monazite, which used in manufacturing floor materials, and zircon in manufacturing ceramics. He denied that Egypt came under foreign pressure over the production of urnaium, stressing that the IAEA only wants to know the magnitude and quantity of produced uranium and how it is being used. |
FBIS3-59815_9 | Alleged Support for Saddam by Kurdish Leaders, Citizens | suffer a setback because it is the banner of right and justice. It is surrounded by the hearts of brave Iraqis and Kurds and all the brotherly minorities within the framework of a united and integrated homeland. Sabri Ghulam, branch secretary of the Kurdish Revolutionary Party. said: I would like to remind the agents and hirelings in Kurdistan Iraq of an essential and manifest fact--that no matter how many promises the colonialist makes, he honors them only as far as they serve his illegitimate interests. And if his interests are exposed to danger, he will dump his lackeys on the heap of history. Our people both Iraqis and Kurds have for long experienced this. We are greatly confident that masses of our Kurdish people in Iraqi Kurdistan are aware of their responsibility in confronting the agents and saboteurs who are wreaking havoc in the self-rule region. Our people will not be misled by their false slogans and will forever continue to fight the traitors and the turncoats until final victory is achieved which, God willing, is near. Ahmad Hasan 'Uthman, deputy secretary general for the Administration of Municipalities, expressed his astonishment and surprise at the falsehoods disseminated by international news agencies regarding the living conditions the Kurdish people are experiencing in the self-rule region in Kurdistan under these extraordinary circumstances. The life our Kurdish people are living is very difficult. The realities of the hardship, which our people are suffering, should not be glossed over. The masses will soon say their just word by expelling all the agents and traitors and turn every grain of beloved Kurdistan's soil into a firebrand that will burn the enemies and all the traitors. Mahmud Muhammad Dizih'i from Irbil province, said: Our Kurdish masses will not remain silent over the hardships. The conditions they are living at present are exceptional and will vanish thanks to the efforts of all the honest and noble Kurds. The forces of aggression will not be able to suppress our Kurdish people's resolve to live a free and dignified life. The love for beloved leader Saddam Husayn will continue to be cherished in the hearts of all the honest Kurds. Mrs. Samira Fadhil pointed out to the popular unrest in the area and the denunciation by the people of all the antipatriotic and antinational actions the agent cliques and colonialists lackeys carry out. Their aim, she said, is to |
FBIS3-59816_0 | Negative Role, Objectives of Orientalists Discussed | Language: Arabic Article Type:CSO [Article by Sinan 'Abd-al-Jabbar Abu-Kalal] [Text] Iraq and the Arab nation are experiencing, in these very days, a unique state of nationalist awakening and national awareness, and a feeling of historical steadfastness in a nearly unique way. It is different from other such instances in our contemporary history. This awareness, sincerely and enthusiastically eager to know past patriots and to learn from their heritage, values, and influence, is the inevitable result of scientific understanding and a total grasp of the movement of history and its philosophy. One of the most dangerous pests to which our combatant nation has been exposed is the attempt of enemies, in their different languages and varieties, of their diverse sects and beliefs, to create a state of anarchy and confusion among the people of a single community, and to feed the spirit of dissension and hostility among its individuals. It has tried to perpetuate dissension and religious strife among their ranks and distort the historical realities of Arab Islamic culture. All this was in order to halt the renaissance and reawakening that had reached its peak in this decisive juncture in the history of our nation, and there must be a response. Among them are the orientalists who devoted themselves to studying the Crusades, with many points of view, both praising and blaming, among them both men fair and those who avoid the truth. Researchers studying orientalism and the Crusades are unable to find the many sources of this movement, so it is not easy for them except the trivial part of it which might conceal these two subjects. This presents researchers with real difficulties, so they add their own touches to make a clear picture of orientalists and the Crusades. To demonstrate this, the fair-minded German orientalist Sigrid Hunke [?] gave an example of what we are saying when she said, "I have found nothing in the articles but trivialization, which does not satisfy a researcher's thirst." We will make an effort to point up the truth of what these fair-minded ones believed, to show the refinement and role of the Arabs in human civilization. We will also touch on orientalism and make its concept and aims clear. We will examine the orientalists' ideas and learn their views on thhe Crusades, and make an effort to respond to the orientalists with the meager sources available to us. We will, of |
FBIS3-59817_6 | Islamic Al-Da'wah Party's Ideology Analyzed | slogan truthfully and sincerely is a linked agent, whether or not he is actually linked, because he must always swim in an international environment created by colonialism, act on the basis of the arrogant powers' policy and interests, and advocate the colonialist imports of democracy, socialism, nationalism, communism, etc. In any case, he is only a part of the political equation dictated by the colonialist policy planners." (p 77) The second Gulf war was a turning point for Iraqi political action in general and Islamic parties in particular. These forces had hoped that the second Gulf war would succeed where the first Gulf war had failed by toppling the dictatorial regime in Iraq. The Islamic forces pinned great hopes on the March 1991 revolt. However, the international and regional calculus precluded the success of that revolt. In its review of the revolt, the IDP states, regarding the position taken by countries in the region: "The regional position was not better than the international position. Some governments in the region took pleasure in the tragedy that occurred in Iraq. Others displayed anxiety over the people's revolt; they feared the next regime, because it would represent the Iraqi people's will." Regarding Iran's position, the IDP states in its review: "Countries which the Iraqi people had hoped would hasten to support it in its trial during the revolt, especially those countries which were a victim of the regime's crimes and hostile policies, did not rise to the occasion by providing what was essential to a people being harmed by hunger brought on by a bloody, savage regime" (the pamphlet, "Our Program," March 1992, p 39). This analysis reflects the IDP's difference with Iran, which apparently goes back to before the second Gulf war, when Iran selected Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim instead of the IDP to head the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which was set up as a framework for political action in opposition to the Iraqi regime. The IDP continued to be a member of the council, though only nominally. After the second Gulf war, the IDP opened--under the heading of flexibility--to the neighboring Arab countries, specifically Saudi Arabia. A delegation of IDP leaders visited Saudi Arabia on more than one occasion to meet with senior Saudi officials. In consonance with the orientations of Syria, Saudi Arabia, and several other Iraqi political forces, the party joined the preparatory committee laying |
FBIS3-59820_2 | Relocation of Institutions in Baghdad Called Political | circular city, Baghdad--the city of peace. He chose for it the western bank of the Tigris River, thus letting the river stand as a defense line separating his capital from the other peoples to the north and the east and leaving his back open to the desert. This is the geographic position of the al-Karkh side, or of al-Karkh when approached from Baghdad. But Baghdad's growth compelled its inhabitants to move to the opposite side of the river, or in the direction of al-Rasafah. Soon, this side became the bigger of the two. Nearly two centuries later, the caliphs moved their palaces and their governments to this side of the river and allowed the circular city that had been built by al-Mansur to disintegrate and collapse, and to let all traces of its walls disappear. There is no doubt that the circular city was not big enough to accommodate the capital of a major empire, which Baghdad was destined to be. The transfer of government from al-Karkh to al-Rasafah was politically and humanly significant, denoting the transfer of the center of influence from Arabs to non-Arabs. Consequently, the Tigris River protected the city's southern and western flanks from the desert (Arabs) and opened it from the north and the east to Iran and Central Asia. From that time on, the caliph became a toy in the hands of non-Arabs. Perhaps we can consider the move to al-Rasafah to be one of the biggest military mistakes committed by the Abbasides. Soon thereafter, Hulago invaded Iraq and found nothing to obstruct his way to an open Baghdad. This geographic position of al-Karkh and al-Rasafah has had an important impact that has continued to exist to this day and that has played its role in our modern history. The al-Karkh side has continued to be inclined toward the desert. It has also been the home of Arabism and Islam, whereas al-Rasafah became a cosmopolitan city (multinational, multireligious, and multiethnic). It became a haven for non-Arabs and foreigners, a playground for entertainment and a place of song, dance, and opulent and sophisticated living. This is the situation currently. There is hardly a non-Arab and non-Muslim home in al-Karkh, whereas al-Rasafah is divided into varied cosmopolitan quarters. It has the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, the Kurdish Section, the Armenian Camp, and so forth. Tolerance Versus Fanaticism Lifestyles have also been divided along the above |
FBIS3-59829_4 | Hizballah Leaders, Motives, Troubles Scrutinized Fadlallah's Role, Motives Questioned | throughout the period of the confrontation between Iran and the West. Hizballah, which needed a spiritual guide in Lebanon, was the vehicle by means of which Fadlallah played that role. Furthermore, Sayyid Fadlallah did not offer his positions to the party free of charge. He rather tried to implant himself within the party by using the cadres he was grooming. Those cadres, who made up the student organization of al-Da'wah [Islamic Call] Party, were known as the Association of Muslim Students. During the period of Imam Khomeyni's presence Sayyid Fadlallah played the part, which Iran wanted him to play. At the same time he was preparing himself for the post-Imam Khomeyni period. After all, he turned out to be the most fortunate party in the confrontation, which occurred between supporters of Imam Khomeyni and Shaykh Hoseyn 'Ali Montazeri, Khomeyni's successor. That confrontation ended in the ouster of Shaykh Montazeri from the position of succession. Sayyid Fadlallah was fortunate in this confrontation and its outcome because a principal obstacle, which could have obstructed his private plan to set himself up as the supreme Shiite source of emulation had been removed. Shaykh Montazeri was the last mujtahid in Iran [a religious leader who makes and issues independent interpretations of theological questions] who was also source of emulation. He was the last such religious figure to uphold the notion of a jurisconsult's guardianship. With him out of the picture and then with the departure of the imam, proponents of an Islamic republic and of the guardianship of a jurisconsult found no one to perform the part of a spiritual guide but Seyyed 'Ali Khamene'i, who had not yet completed his treatise. This meant that Sayyid Fadlallah was no longer under the obligation of following Khamene'i. Since Fadlallah had completed his treatise, he was more learned and more knowledgeable than Khamene'i, and he was not required, therefore, to follow his guidance. (AL-SHIRA' had published in a previous issue that Fadlallah had printed his treatise and had placed it for safekeeping in a warehouse.) Accordingly, it was Fadlallah and not Khamene'i who deserved to become the supreme source of emulation in the context of accepting a Khomeyni style guardianship of a jurisconsult. Sayyid Fadlallah was even more fortunate in the departure of Sayyid Abolqasem Kho'i, the world's supreme Shiite source of emulation, who had objected to the universal application of a Khomeyni-style guardianship of a |
FBIS3-59835_6 | Construction Projects, Contract Details The Man-Made River Project, Water Conduit or Underground Weapons Plant? | between Thailand and the United States. The United States frequently likes to use the GSP issue as a bargaining chip. What this means is that the government gives greater weight to exporters than to those who send workers abroad or to Thai workers who are trying to making a living abroad. There is a good chance that the second largest labor market in the Arab bloc will soon shut down completely. The Man-Made River Project, Water Conduit or Underground Weapons Plant? The collision between Libya and the United States over the terrorists responsible for the bombing of the Pan American Jet has affected Thailand. The Thai engineer who owns a construction contracting company in Chiang Mai was arrested on charges of sending workers abroad illegally. But there are are rumors that he designed an underground tunnel in Libya for use as an underground chemical weapons plant. This has apparently made Qadhdhafi so angry that he has ordered the expulsion of the more than 20,000 Thai workers from Libya. The matter of the underground tunnel is very confusing. Some people say that this is an air raid shelter. Others say that it can be modified for use as an underground weapons production plant. And some say that it is a water conduit that is part of the man-made river project. "The man-made river project, or plant to produce huge water pipes for the project (Berka plant), is 1.4 million square meters in size. The plant produces pipes with a diameter of 4 meters and a length of 7.5 meters. Concerning Libya's "Great Man Made River Project, documents compiled by Dong A official Udon Chanthawan, and a document entitled "The River of Life" prepared by Libyan officials state that the purpose of this project is to defeat the dry natural conditions of the Sahara desert. The goal is to transform this desert into a green agricultural zone. [passage omitted] Thus, this huge project to pipe water from the middle of the desert to communities in the north is in form similar to a man-made river. Altogether, there are five projects: 1. The Al-Sarin-Sidra and Qaslr Benghazi lines. 2. The western Jamahiriyah-Tripoli line. 3. The line connecting Kufra with the headwaters of a river. 4. Ajdabiya-Tubruq. 5. The Sidra line, which follows the coast to Tripoli. [passage omitted] Building these five projects will require a huge sum of money. The first project alone |
FBIS3-59836_8 | Petroleum Minister Discusses OPEC Prices, Iraq | petroleum market. I believe the OPEC countries will allow Iraq to resume its quota. As to when Iraq will return and what effect that will have, these matters are hard to predict fully right now, though our hope is that sanctions will be lifted from Iraq and it will be able to resume exporting petroleum. ['Abd-al-Ghani] But what will happen to the market and prices in the event OPEC is preventing from granting Iraq its old quota as soon as the international sanctions are lifted? [Al-Shanfari] The question of the price collapse might happen, I believe, if OPEC does not consent to give Iraq its former quota. Prices would plunge, possibly reaching $10 per barrel. This would hurt producers. If Iraq is given the quota that was taken from it, or distributed among some other countries, I don't think we'll see a collapse of petroleum prices. ['Abd-al-Ghani] Recently there has been a noticeable slowdown in the giant joint ventures Oman had contracted for, for instance, the construction of an petroleum pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, or the gas pipeline to India, as well as the liquid gas project--whose estimated total price tag is nearly $18 or $19 billion. [Al-Shanfari] Discussing these projects brings us to the Sultanate's efforts to diversify its revenue sources at the local level, into the areas of agriculture, industry, fisheries, and minerals. We have also begun to diversify these sources abroad; we have begun to seek out economic projects abroad. We have actually signed agrements with Russia and Kazakhstan to build a Black Sea pipeline through Russia. The project is now ready for implementation. An economic study is now being prepared, along with the route of the pipeline. We hope that the study will be adequate, and we will receive it soon. Naturally we have entered the stage of obtaining of the petroleum exploration concession in Kazakhstan, and we hope that work will get under way soon in developing this concession. We have signed an agreement with the Indian Government to supply the Indian subcontinent with natural gas from Oman. As the world's second most populous country, after China, India likewise has a rising demand for energy, and the same holds true for the other rapidly developing countries of Asia, such as Vietnam, Taiwan, and others. The agreement includes the building of a pipeline, and a study is now being prepared. We |
FBIS3-59837_36 | Shura Analyzed by Prominent Arab Personalities `Consultation, Islamic Method of Representation,' by Shaykh 'Abdallah Ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, speaker of the Yemeni House of Representatives `Saudi Role in Gulf Scene Strengthens Its Arab Leadership' by al-Shadhili al-Qulaybi `Concerning Shura and Change,' by Munah al-Solh, Lebanese politician and writer `Concerning Shura and the System of Government,' by Mustafa Ahmad Ibn Halim, former Libyan prime minister `Building of Man Before Building Institutions in Saudi Arabia,' by Khalid al-Hasan, member of FATAH's Central Committee `Significance of Decision To Create Saudi Shura Council,' by Ahmad 'Abbas Salih | Islam rejected that from the beginning. Democracy in Israel today is democracy that the West introduced to it. It is also democracy based on race. The Jew enjoys democracy; the non-Jew has no right to it, while the oriental Jew has a reduced kind. The West today pursues a selective position vis-a-vis democracy. It demands it in any country if its interests require it, but ignores a dictatorship in another country if its interests require. It treats democracy as a means of pressure, not as a general principle for the good of mankind. Even democracy in the West has passed through numerous changes and conditions. Sometimes only landowners may vote. Sometimes only taxpayers may vote. Sometimes only men and not women may vote. This matter has not been free from bloody revolutions en route to democratic change. This confirms the connection between the idea of democracy and the degree of social development; it cannot be discussed outside this framework or in a general way. We should not allow ourselves to be gripped by an inferiority complex by the use of the word "democracy" instead of Shura. We must always insist on using the terminology whose substance is in harmony with our Islamic culture. Legislation We must examine one last subject, which is that many of our problems in Islamic societies result from our not having applied laws that have been derived from our Islamic heritage. Instead of that, we turn to the adoption of Western laws. We must make an effort to understand what we have, so that we may recognize that what we have has been valuable all along. We have three distinguished legislative principles: - The first principle is that--basically--matters are permitted, unless evidence arises to prohibit them. This means the horizon before us is open. - The second principle is that the violation exists with the rule. If the violation exists, the rule exists, and if the violation vanishes, the rule vanishes. That is, if the circumstance changes for which the rule was made, the rule must be changed. - The third principle is that the purpose of the shari'ah is to prevent the causes of corruption and promote the good, and to prevent the cause of corruption from gaining advantages. Principles such as these not only achieve justice, but also achieve openness, on the basis of not disavowing the changing of laws with changing times. I |
FBIS3-59837_40 | Shura Analyzed by Prominent Arab Personalities `Consultation, Islamic Method of Representation,' by Shaykh 'Abdallah Ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, speaker of the Yemeni House of Representatives `Saudi Role in Gulf Scene Strengthens Its Arab Leadership' by al-Shadhili al-Qulaybi `Concerning Shura and Change,' by Munah al-Solh, Lebanese politician and writer `Concerning Shura and the System of Government,' by Mustafa Ahmad Ibn Halim, former Libyan prime minister `Building of Man Before Building Institutions in Saudi Arabia,' by Khalid al-Hasan, member of FATAH's Central Committee `Significance of Decision To Create Saudi Shura Council,' by Ahmad 'Abbas Salih | in various forms from the Maghreb nations to the eastern countries. In Egypt, a strong modernization movement was led by Imam Muhammad 'Abdu, which had a connection with what was, at that time, called the Wahabiyya Movement, especially on the rational side, which eschewed the superstitions that had been affixed to the religious beliefs of the Muslim masses. These superstitions had almost led to a kind of paganism that relied on extreme backwardness. Aside from religious modernization movements, there were feelings of partition and division in the Arab world. The modernization movement in the Arabian Peninsula was based on two focal points: religion and political reorganization. The basic political thought was peninsular unity. The unity would have been impossible to achieve, were it not for the latent feelings within the people of the peninsula with regard to the need for unity and its importance. The idea of modernization imposes itself, when foreign powers and their domestic allies create obstacles that oppose it. Many of the obstacles and subterfuges that reactionary forces in Europe used against the modernization movement were borrowed to block the Arab, Islamic movement. Most of the allegations that were raised in this regard, either on the Saudi scene or in other Arab arenas, and some of the erroneous ideas, claimed that progress and modernity were two Western, Christian processes, and were anti-Islam. People feared the modernization movements and created a state of satisfied alienation around themselves, which led to the belief that adherence to the existing backward conditions was adherence to the correct religious beliefs. Therefore, they made Islam to look as if it were against progress. They invalidated all the brilliant history, in which Islam led the world--in its glorious ages--to all manner of progress in thought, philosophy, and pure sciences and technology. Therefore, the modernization movement is the fundamental movement; it is progress itself, escape from backwardness, ignorance, and subservience. It is the closest to the Islamic concept, benefiting from the events of history, and from the flourishing of that call throughout the world and within masses of its people. The measurement of progress, the measure of modernization, is the basic measure. With this measurement, people can deal directly with tangible events. The fact is that Saudi Arabia has benefited from oil prosperity and from the legacy of the religious and political modernization movement. It has been able to achieve, through education, great leaps forward |
FBIS3-59844_2 | Columnist Criticizes U.S. Human Rights Policy | nations, which advocate the cause of democracy and human rights, have never raised any protest against such incidents. The Middle East problem is the most complex issue in the world at present. But the U.S. Administration has adopted a dual policy regarding this issue. The largest human rights organization of the United States is Human Rights Watch. In its recent report, the group alleged that although President Clinton criticized various activities of Iraq, Iran, and Libya, he is not saying anything against their ally Israel. President Clinton's human rights policy regarding Israel is much weaker than that of former President Bush. The Bush administration was willing to impose economic sanctions against Israel with a view to achieve its objective. But President Clinton has adopted a very liberal policy towards Israel. Recently he gave an assurance to the Israeli prime minister, Mr. Rabin, that an amount of $3,000 million in assistance will be given to Israel every year. The Human Rights Watch report further states that Washington did not criticize Israel for the expulsion of 415 Palestinians to Lebanon. On the other hand, the U.S. secretary of state made efforts to reach a political understanding with Israel in this regard. We feel that this report by Human Rights Watch is sufficient to unmask the administration of President Clinton. Since the birth of Israel, the United States has contributed to its development by extending financial assistance. At present, the main problem in the Middle East is Israel. From the very beginning, this Jewish state has been making attempts to grab the countries of the region. For this purpose the United States has equipped Israel with arms and nuclear weapons. Some people have remarked that Israel is itself an atomic bomb in the Middle East. Realizing this fact, Iran, Iraq, and Libya have taken up an anti-Israeli stand. Their stand led to the recent outbreak of the Gulf War. It must be mentioned that economic sanctions were imposed against Libya centering a trifling issue. Two Libyan citizens were accused for the accident of a PanAm airliner. The United States, Britain, and France have demanded extradition of these two people to face trial. The United Nations imposed sanctions against Libya since it refused to comply with their demand. The Libyan citizens denied that they are involved in the mishap of the PanAm airliner. Hence, Libya has not committed any offense by refusing to hand |
FBIS3-59850_3 | Rafsanjani's Battles With Radicals Explained | 'Abdi will be tried for violating the publishing and press code or for having defamed the president and ministers, or whether he will face charges unrelated to his mission. However, Mohammad Musavi-Kho'iniha, the director of SALAM, and spiritual leader of the students following the line of the imam, who held the American democrats hostage in Iran in 1979, believes that the arrest of 'Abdi occurred after SALAM began to defend the values and sacrosanct principles of the revolution, and refused to bargain over what 'Abdi and his colleagues considered to be the unchangeable principles of the revolution. In an interview with SALAM, the paper's director, Kho'iniha, said that the arrest of its editor in chief was an illegitimate act and represented a clear violation of the publications law. He added that he was himself responsible for what SALAM had published recently about Ayatollah Montazeri, and comments about him, and THAT the criticisms of President Rafsanjani's economic programs, and his recent Friday prayer sermon, were the reason for Abdi's arrest. SALAM published, in its August 30 issue, an article about the way Engineer 'Abdi was arrested, saying that security men broke into his house, and threatened his wife, saying that she must be silent and not interfere with the process of enforcing the law, then bound 'Abdi's hands and took him to an unknown place. It is notable that 'Abdi's arrest coincided with the arrest of Mehdi Nasiri, the editor in chief of the mass-circulation KEYHAN, on the charge of defaming the top judicial authority, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, although judicial authorities freed him after just one day in return for a financial guarantee, while 'Abdi's detention by the central security agency has continued without any announcement of the reasons for his arrest. The Postponed Struggle The question now in Iranian politics is: is Rafsanjani actually determined to end the role of the extremists by arresting two of their senior figures? And has the struggle begun, which was expected to break out after Khomeyni's death, between those who want to turn the revolution into an actual form of government, and those who believe in the continuity of the revolution, and the ongoing revolution. In order to answer this question, we must first get to know the parties to the struggle in Iran and sketch a clear picture of the governing structure today and the system Rafsanjani wants, and who would implement it |
FBIS3-59851_6 | Leadership Structure, Dynamics, Allegiances Explained | who rely on the leader of the revolution, not to mention the Armed Forces, including the Army, Revolution Guard, gendarmerie, and police, who are directly subordinate to his leadership. These matters must be taken into account by anyone who wishes truly to understand the course of present events in Iran. In my opinion, he who would follow the course of radical developments in Iran must follow--from now on--the steps of Hojjat-ol-Eslam 'Ali Khamene'i, who is most skillful. Recently, he has been content in his addresses as leader of the revolution to back away from other titles, some of which have raised certain sensitivities. Follow his steps in various Iranian fields of endeavor. In order to make a more precise evaluation, we need to look at Khamene'i's past. He is from the city of Mashhad, the capital city of Khorasan, where he was born in 1929 into a well-known religious family. He received his introduction to religious sciences in Islamic jurisprudence in the same city, and in Qom, studying under senior marja'iat [religious authorities], such as Ayatollah Borujerdi and Ayatollah Milani, as well as Ayatollah Khomeyni. His roots go back to the city of Khamene'ieh in Iranian Azarbaijan. After finishing his traditional religious studies, he turned to teaching Islamic jurisprudence and interpretation in the two religious cities of Qom and Mashhad. From the beginning, he immersed himself in the struggle of religious ulema in 1952, as a supporter of Ayatollah Khomeyni. He took part in the political struggle for religious groups. From mid-1976, he was one of those who were drawing up the principal guidelines to create a party organization, which later were crystallized in the form of the Islamic Republican Party. This party emerged onto the Iranian political scene after the success of the revolution. Khamene'i was one of those depended upon by Ayatollah Khomeyni and was an object of his esteem. He was a permanent member of the Revolution Command Council [RCC] and was also in charge of matters to do with the Revolution Guard. Later, during the last part of Eng. Mehdi Bazargan's government, he was appointed deputy defense minister for coordination between Revolution Guard affairs and the regular army. However, Khamene'i resigned from this post to enter the Iranian elections. A short while after the revolution, that is, 1 April 1980, Imam Khomeyni appointed Khamene'i imam for the city of Tehran to lead thousands of Friday worshipers. |
FBIS3-59852_0 | Regime Policies Viewed in Context of Words, Deeds | Language: Arabic Article Type:CSO [Article by Amir Tahiri: "The Iranian Policies...in Context of Words and Deeds"] [Text] According to what has been reported, the mullahs [clerics] in Iran have started a "friendly" offensive in order to end the diplomatic isolation of their country and to attract foreign capital, as well as other forms of aid to the stagnating Iranian economy. During the past two weeks, the mullahs have contacted three major European countries. In that respect, one of the mullahs, a brother of President Rafsanjani, visited Germany where he held three meetings with government officials. His message there was that the Islamic Republic was a responsible member of the international community and that it was ready to open a "new chapter" with the West. Also, as part of that offensive, the secretary-general of the French Foreign Ministry, paid a 48-hour visit to Tehran where his Iranian hosts assured him that the Islamic Republic opposed terrorism and that it would not do anything to stir trouble in the region. Finally, Iran welcomed Michael Berton, a senior official in the British Foreign Ministry, who, according to the official version, had come to discuss the death warrant issued by Khomeyni against the British writer, Salman Rushdie. Such visits are in themselves quite positive, and every move concerning the normalization of Iran's foreign policy, should be welcomed. However, what in fact is needed is a real change in Tehran's thinking. But so far, there is no indication that this is going to happen any time soon. The crux of the matter concerning the mullahs can be explained by an Iranian folk story about an aristocrat who had set on a difficult journey in winter time during the Middle Ages. One night, the aristocrat and his servant stopped to rest in a little house along the road. The weather was very cold. The aristocrat was shivering like a tree shaken by an autumn wind. The servant did his best to cover him with all the blankets he could find. But the aristocrat was still cold; he screamed at the servant with arrogance and despair saying: "Can't you look for few additional things to cover me with?" The servant was embarrassed because the only thing left was the saddle of the donkey. He wondered how could an aristocrat sleep covered by a saddle. Nevertheless, the servant gathered his courage and told his master about what was |
FBIS3-59853_4 | Radical Political Change Prescribed for Economic Ills | war with Iraq. The mullahs did not gain absolute hold on power until mid-1981 by which time Iran was involved in a full-fledged war with Iraq. Furthermore, many transgressions took place during the early stages of the revolutions. Tens of thousands of Iranian managers, experts, and businessmen were executed, exiled, or imprisoned. It did not take but one or two years to destroy or deliberately dissipate half of the expertise [Iran] accumulated over half a century. A comparison with other countries may not reflect a complete picture. Rasfanjani announced a policy of normalization because he wanted to close the chapter on revolutionary dislocation. His was a pragmatic strategy meant to bring an end to executions and arbitrary arrests, to allow businessmen to reappear, and to shed the government's economic burden through privatization and by clipping the wings of the mullahs who drive the black market. The problem, however, was that Rasfanjani was unable, or perhaps unwilling, to mobilize populist support for normalization containing established interests that benefit from a system of political suppression and economic domination. Iran's creditors therefore face a dilemma. They could further weaken Rasfanjani's position if they continue to supply credit facilities without demanding political reform. They make wake up one day and realize that they squandered good money after bad as they did for years in a number of African and Latin American countries. Should Iran be put under credit pressure, as Washington is wont to want these days, it may be driven to more extremism and any hope of bringing it back into the fold of the world community as a "normal member" would be lost. It is easy to pursue a policy of imperialistic adventurism whereas it is difficult to adopt and implement constructive policies. Iran today is in no position to make a positive contribution to world developments. It lacks both the leadership and the means necessary. But it still can create a great deal of trouble for a large number of nations because it has the means and expertise to do so. The situation therefore calls for treating Iran with a mix of firmness and good will. Future assistance must be linked to progress on the road to normalization as explained by Rasfanjani. This is no hope in an early improvement in the Iranian economy without changes in its political climate and in the general direction of its domestic and foreign policies. |
FBIS3-59870_1 | Turkey Called Subservient to U.S. Interests | move to this effect will be met by an unannounced reaction by the coalition forces to impede the Turkish move in this direction. The Kurdish card will be one of the most powerful cards used to pressure the Turkish government and prevent it from resuming full relations with Iraq. Other cards that can be used against the Turks include Cyprus, relations with Greece, relations with the former Soviet republics in Asia, and relations with Iran that can ebb and flow for many reasons and motives. Ending the foreign presence in Turkey will free Turkish will and Turkish official and popular decisionmaking from heavy shackles. This, however, does not mean that turning the words of Turkish officials about lifting the blockade on Iraq into deeds is a matter difficult to achieve before achieving the withdrawal of the coalition forces from Turkey. Every day that passes with Iraq under blockade increases Turkey's economic and security problems, as Turkish officials themselves acknowledge. Though this acknowledgment is sincere, it has not yielded the desired results. At best, it has seemed to be a campaign to elicit the sympathy of others to aid Turkey, or it may be an expedient for domestic consumption, to rally public opinion that will accept nothing but the historic good relations with Iraq and lifting the blockade from the Iraqi people. A well-known political principle is that the advent of a new president and a government from another party means that one need not retain the old policy of the previous president and government when that policy is unacceptable to the people as being at odds with their interests and those of the country. However, the current administration and government in Turkey have in no way acted on this principle, despite comments about the harm that Turkey's previous president caused to Turkey by facilitating military aggression against Iraq, approving the concentration of coalition forces in Turkey, and participating in imposing a blockade on Iraq. Add to this the fact that continued penetration by the Turkish army and air force into Iraqi territory on the pretext of pursuing elements of the Turkish Kurdistan Labor Party and continued cooperation with renegades subservient to Iraq's Kurds is against the official policy of the new president and government in Turkey. This is something that conflicts with the agreements on borders and relations between Baghdad and Ankara. It conflicts with international laws and practices, and |
FBIS3-59873_0 | Achievements, UNSC Oppressions Detailed | Language: Arabic Article Type:CSO [Article by 'Abd-al-Jabbar Muhsin: "An Accounting of Failures"] [Text] Iraq cuts the lifeline to the south. Iraq blockades the north. Iraq impoverishes the central region. What is this Iraq that works against its south, north, and everything in between? What is this Iraq that works against Iraq, trying to assassinate it? Ask the Security Council and those who dominate its resolutions. They are the ones dominating and besieging all of Iraq. They forbid all Iraq to have a loaf of bread, medicine, and cloth--with official resolutions they are proud of, which they are delighted to agree upon. They allege that all is well in the world, even that the world is new and pure, as stable as a mountain top. Why? Because the big people who are manipulated by the United Nations agree to extend the sanctions and to deprive Iraq of all imports and exports. And shamelessly, without any feeling of fraud or deceit, they claim that Iraq is besieging itself. Iraq has become, from their point of view, a hook on which they may hang all their errors and evils, including their crimes against Iraq. Again: Why? First, because Iraq is a huge reservoir of oil in the grip of a powerful people; they want its oil for free or almost free, down to the last drop, not just down to the last barrel. Secondly, because Iraq has reclaimed its [oil] wealth from the clutches of big companies and gone on to handle it justly, neither oppressing buyers nor cheating sellers. Third, because Iraq has used its oil revenues to benefit people: to build factories, roads, and bridges, universities, schools, clinics, and residential buildings; to eliminate illiteracy and to liberate people from ignorance. In short, Iraq has moved quickly toward modernization, to bridge the gap between it and post-industrial society. That is to say, its resources have not ended up at roulette wheels, or in banks to be brazenly stolen, nor have the revenues from our resources been distributed among kings and princes. Fourth, Iraq has become a power, a force for the truth that it defends. It is a power, a treasury of civilization, a power to strive toward a future where everything is new and honest. Iraq is a force for a unique mind and a powerful arm. These factors have all strengthened the philosophy and logic of Commander Saddam Husayn, and |
FBIS3-59874_0 | Iraqi Versus Foreign View of Kurdish Rights Stated | Language: Arabic Article Type:CSO [Article by 'Abd-al-Jabbar Muhsin: "Rights of the Kurds"] [Text] What rights does any national minority want in any country? The impostors of "the Kurdish struggle"--traitorous groups--have never raised this question, nor has it been raised by the nations that pretend to be concerned about the Kurds and seek to protect them by falsehood and slander. As for the traitorous groups, their foremost concern has been how to serve America, serve Iran, or serve any big or neighboring country--indeed, how to achieve for the Zionist entity its goals in the region. As a result, what price does each of the parties pay? It is not in the form of rights for the Kurds, but in the form of money that accumulates on gambling tables and personal pleasures. They have completely ignored in their talk and in their cooperation with these parties the goal of the role that they have termed "a struggle"--that is to say, its relation to the rights of the Kurds. This is because the traitorous groups have perceived before others and more than others that national rights for the Kurds are utterly anathema to the customary practice of their masters. As for the international parties, they want the Kurdish issue to become an instrument to dissipate some of Iraq's thrust, drain Iraq's resources, distract Iraq from its pan-Arab role, and divert Iraq from building itself up; then they would push Iraq into surrender to what the West wants and to the goals that Zionism wants in the area. When the Soviet Union split up, each nationality, however insignificant, obtained a state or ministate as an acknowledged right or rights, while this was kept from the Kurds as an exception. No one in the new international order or in the remains of the Soviet Union uttered a word about the rights of the Kurds--bear in mind that Zionism, the United States, and the West generally were in the position of being able to dictate conditions to the new governments that the collapse left behind. Since the eternal Mother of Battles, America, the entire West, and the Zionists have wanted northern Iraq to remain isolated from the body of the country. Their airplanes still fly over this section, units of their armies still pollute it, and the men and women of their intelligence agencies are still plotting a role for one person and charting the course |
FBIS3-59874_4 | Iraqi Versus Foreign View of Kurdish Rights Stated | branches nourish themselves on the facts of the age. The rights of the Kurds came from the position of the state's power and ability--politically, economically, and militarily--above all else. The Kurds are Iraqi citizens first, and therefore they have the rights and duties of every citizen. The rights of the Kurds begin with their being recognized as a minority with a special character on the one hand and incorporated into the formation of Iraqi society on the other hand. The Kurds consequently have the right to use their language--indeed, to be educated in it alongside Arabic. They have the right to adhere to their own customs and to develop their culture. Iraq, under the leadership and guidance of Saddam Husayn, added that the Kurds should participate in governing Iraq as a whole and that they should act as rulers in local affairs in the context of the unity of Iraq and without prejudicing the rights of the Iraqi people as a whole or of its central government in guiding affairs so as to benefit everyone and prevent harm to all. Thus, Kurds have become members of the central government, the central parliament, and central institutions--just as they have come to have their local authorities. Indeed, the Iraqi state has not neglected the right of the Kurds to disagree among themselves in opinion and ideology in a multiparty system to which all doors have been opened. In the forefront of these parties were those who are now seeking the sympathy of Iraq's enemies and inciting these enemies against their own country. What, other than what we have mentioned, are national rights? Furthermore, is it not Iraq, which is accused of blockading the Kurds, that has spent billions to develop life in the Kurdish regions, while the neighboring countries that the traitors serve want to keep the Kurdish people locked in the age of pastoralism? Today, after the years of fighting in the Mother of Battles, the Kurdish citizen realizes that under the leadership of Saddam Husayn a free and dignified life for himself and his national rights exist for the first time in history. Certain it is that this truth will someday be transformed into affectionate action that will amaze the world when, after all the noise of propaganda, it is seen that Iraq's Kurds want no alternative to their dignity and will accept no one but Saddam Husayn as leader. |
FBIS3-59876_3 | Realism Advised: No `Magical Solution' to Problems | the dollar in the name of breaking the economic sanctions. Is the Central Bank capable of intervening to regulate dollar rates? Is it possible for the government to establish a large financial institution, under current conditions, to buy dollars when needed and maintain the market price? Perhaps the Central Bank has a limited opportunity to intervene by way of foreign exchange. However, the question of a financial institution at present is beyond the government's powers, because of the sanctions, the ban on exporting oil, and Iraq's frozen assets abroad. Achieving this now is not possible, though, unless we were to rely on domestic lending from private banks, industrialists, and merchants in exchange for certain concessions, guarantees, and facilities. The conversion of governmental industrial companies into joint stock cement and brick companies played a part in driving up the price of the dollar. The citizens' interest in buying shares seemed to be greater than their interest in supplying goods to market, and this, too, sent prices up. The people--non-merchants--were surprised at what the media was saying about purchasing dollars in the long term without prior assessment of the harmful effects of this kind of media presentation. There are possible solutions which, in my view, must be mentioned in this article. In brief: reviewing the distribution outlets for goods to citizens; a ban on hoarding and realizing profits based on hoarding; and enacting punishment as severe as execution for that, as happens in capitalistic America itself, and other countries. And on top of that, the cancellation of agents' security, as occurs with cigarettes, and subjecting domestic production to ration cards on the basis of "taking turns" for the regions. This would influence prices and reassure citizens that they can get batteries, tires, cloth, leather products, oils, and other goods and commodities at one time or another during the year. What might really cause surprise on this subject is the appearance of what might be called the secret purchase of a certain commodity in a company or institution, and the purchase of rebate receipts for cement, for example, on the part of some people afflicted with monopoly fever. Turning the central markets and social cooperatives into a mixed sector may seem to be an acceptable idea because it will give citizens a better chance to obtain various goods and commodities at prices that, whatever they were, would still be far below market prices. |
FBIS3-59877_2 | Party Standards Called Model for Government Offices | the student and pupil, but for other reasons basically material. I am looking for doctors who do not give a patient in their private clinics more than they give to one in the government hospital and the people's clinic--doctors who do not force the patient to return three times to the private clinic for diagnosis and go to a particular laboratory and particular pharmacy on the pretext of the professional knowledge of the laboratory doctor and the pharmacist. Of course, I am sure that physicians need greater care by the government in salary, provision of scientific resources, and making a qualitative shift in the life of the physician and pharmacist in various areas of scientific and social life. I am looking for lawyers and judges who are great in all things, now that time has buried the names of lawyers and judges who were renowned for learning, knowledge, justice, and honesty in Iraq's political and legal history. I am looking for sons who do not call their fathers by their names or by nicknames such as "Abu So-and-so," and for fathers who do not encourage their children to smoke, drink, and do other things in the name of changing times and overlook their truancy from school or lack of diligence. Party work had a sanctity, and the party official was an object of respect: such was secret party life in Iraq. Thus it was and thus it ought to be in public life, but society's shortcomings have left their mark on the life of many party figures from the point of view of the people. The meeting no longer retains its old spirit, as I, who am not enrolled in any party, hear. The meeting has come to be regarded as one regards a job that permits vacations, laxity, and absence for various excuses and pretexts. What will others do when the traffic policeman neglects to fasten the seat belt in his car, goes through the light, and crosses the street not at the crosswalk? How can someone sick because of smoking heed the advice of his attendant physician who smokes? How will an employee deal with a citizen when his superior deals bureaucratically with him? What position will the citizen take toward an official who gives him such and such advice, while not carrying out anything he has promised to do? Aristotle says that anyone who would do good |
FBIS3-59877_3 | Party Standards Called Model for Government Offices | and overlook their truancy from school or lack of diligence. Party work had a sanctity, and the party official was an object of respect: such was secret party life in Iraq. Thus it was and thus it ought to be in public life, but society's shortcomings have left their mark on the life of many party figures from the point of view of the people. The meeting no longer retains its old spirit, as I, who am not enrolled in any party, hear. The meeting has come to be regarded as one regards a job that permits vacations, laxity, and absence for various excuses and pretexts. What will others do when the traffic policeman neglects to fasten the seat belt in his car, goes through the light, and crosses the street not at the crosswalk? How can someone sick because of smoking heed the advice of his attendant physician who smokes? How will an employee deal with a citizen when his superior deals bureaucratically with him? What position will the citizen take toward an official who gives him such and such advice, while not carrying out anything he has promised to do? Aristotle says that anyone who would do good should avoid its opposite, or else he will be called evil. In political science it is an error to retreat from a gain that a group of people has realized for the entire nation. In government departments and institutions the anger of an official often leads to unacceptable measures against a particular employee or group of employees for various reasons. As everyone knows, any number of thank-you letters cannot prevail against a letter of sanction against a certain employee. We thank God that our nation has preserved its historic characteristics of courage, generosity, and patriotism. Yet certain individuals from this great nation have deserted "village ethics" in the name of progress. Using the blockade as a crutch, they justify theft itself. They justify bribery by the persistence of the blockade and the complexity of economic life. They regard crime as something normal under such circumstances, as something similar to what goes on throughout the world, though in mitigated form. Among these people are some who have good social and professional positions. Where is the model in this type of person in the positive sense? The inferior will continue to regard the superior with an eye of wonder, admiration, and the |
FBIS3-59880_0 | Treasury To Compensate Laid-Off Aircraft Workers | Language: Hebrew Article Type:CSO [Article by Arye Egozi] [Text] The management of Aircraft Industries (AI) will begin sending pink slips next week to 2,900 of the company's workers. This is part of the framework of the new work agreement that was initialled day before yesterday.The management intends to finish the massive layoff process by the beginning of 1994. Now that the agreement has signed, the treasury will transfer the money that will make it possible to pay November's salaries. According to the new agreement, hundreds of workers will be laid off, in all the AI plants and in the top leadership. Those 50 and over, will leave the company in the framework of early retirement, while workers under 50 will go as part of a round of layoffs with compensation. The management decided yesterday to open a counselling center for laid-off workers. This center will try to help them find alternative work and also advise them on how to invest their severance pay. The treasury has committed itself to funding the layoffs of all 2,900 workers, and for that, will be transferring approximately $330 million to AI's accounts, in accord with the rate the layoffs are carried. The AI management began yesterday preparing to pay debts amounting to $70 million to the company's suppliers and subcontractors. They are also preparing for a similar settlement with the banks, which the company owes $500 million. The company will finish the year with an operating loss of about $70 million. The total loss will be much greater, because it will include the severance payments and the early pensions for those who have been laid off. |
FBIS3-59884_3 | Al-'Adhl Discusses Solar, Nuclear Energy | removed from bureaucracy and red tape. Other projects we have include an earthquake-observation network and the lunaproject. We also have the Research and Computer Institute, which has Arabic-language programs. We have a project to train the disabled to use computers. We also have several activities connected with automatic translation through the use of computers. Regarding the "surveyor," we now have Arabic-language survey programs that make it easy to enter data all at once. All these projects are good. But I look at the manpower comprised of Saudi youth and I hope that it possess a [high] degree of capability because this manpower is what lasts. Sincere and energetic manpower is the most important element. This is why we will focus on youth training and development programs so that our young men will get higher degrees. I believe that this is where we start laying the foundation on which we can build. This is something of which we can be proud. Atom and Water Desalination [Al-Zuman] At a conference held recently in Vienna, you said that the Kingdom uses the atom to desalinate water. Can your excellency tell us about this program? [Al-'Adhl] Because we must not rely on a single source of wealth, we have decided to plan for the future, considering that availability of the oil energy cannot make us dispense with the search for alternatives so as to develop other sources. We have had to consider the long run. The current circumstances require us to embrace certain policies that reflect the economic situation. We have to have the technology to desalinate water, to generate power, and for use in the various economic and social areas. We also have to have the capability to deal with this technology. Nuclear energy has its several aspects, including the negative aspect of radiation and the possibility of radiation accidents. It also has its peaceful aspect. Because problems have developed in the advanced countries that use nuclear energy, we will be more conservative before we embark on this field. Despite all this, we must have the technical capability first. Protection from radiation is very important, and we have made a stride in this regard in the area of the peaceful use of the atom. Not True [Al-Zuman] An accusation was made against the King 'Abd-al-'Aziz Science and Technology city and those who made it believe that you are close to the King Sa'ud |
FBIS3-59903_10 | CW Destruction Investigated by ROSSIYA | and camps and more than 1,000 elderly Uzbeks who were not fit to go to the front and spoke Russian poorly. Less than 300 of them returned to Uzbekistan--the rest were buried in the Chapayevsk city cemetery. And more than 500 people fled that same year (out from under the wing of Lavrentiy Beriya's department!). The "Thaw" did not break the continuity of the times. Thousands of prisoners from the new wave worked on the construction of Khimprom in Novocheboksrask at the beginning of the 1970's. They continued to work later as well, for example, at this plant's twin in a nearby foreign country. The scale of the use of forced labor was so great that a term originated--"he served time in chemistry" as a synonym for "he served time in jail." The high Areopagus of the military-chemical complex landed in Chapayevsk in the summer of 1989: more than 20 deputy ministers, generals, directors, and academicians. They were there to place wreaths on graves in the city cemetery and get as far away as their legs would carry them from the unfortunate city which had been polluted by socialism and forgotten by God and the authorities. But the chiefs did not come in repentance--they almost declared Chapayevsk to be the most suitable place for destroying chemical weapons that were no longer needed. True, this decision was not ultimately made.... War Victims--Burned Out Cities People in military-chemical production burned like straw. And entire cities where these factories of death were located were also unable to keep from burning up. Not a single document of modern Russia mentions the fact that scars have been left on the body of the earth, even in places where weapons are not produced. An immense ring of filth still surrounds each of them: bodies of water, underground waters, and soil are polluted. Residents suffer from incomprehensible diseases. And there is no mention of allotting funds for treating these people, not to mention restoring the ecology of these places. The specific addresses and the degree of mutilation of the environment are still a well-kept secret. Nonetheless, spies of the "probable enemy" have probably progressed much farther than we have in recognizing our filthy chemical past. Last year in the United States a paper was published on Soviet chemical weapons; it included a considerable number of German and Anglo-American discoveries. From this it is possible to learn a |
FBIS3-59946_0 | Arms Control Efforts Foreign Minister Launches Initiative | Language: German Article Type:BFN [Text] Bonn (DDP) -- Germany's Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel has launched a German initiative aimed at combating the threatened proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. A 10-point paper published today by the Foreign Ministry in Bonn calls on all those states which have not yet signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty or conventions on biological and chemical weapons to do so without delay. In addition, the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons should be extended indefinitely from 1995. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe should be augmented to become a model for the regional nonproliferation of nuclear weapons which could also serve as a model for other regions. In addition, the German initiative envisages international cooperation in the area of export controls. The Foreign Ministry also urges greater support, including financial aid, for disarmament programs in the CIS. Plutonium coming into circulation as a consequence of disarmament should in the future be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The United Nations should compile a nuclear weapons register to create a better overview of the number of nuclear weapons in existence. The German Government also reaffirmed its call for a worldwide and comprehensive agreement against nuclear testing. The Foreign Ministry paper also points out that in a basic resolution the UN Security Council described the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as a threat to international security and peace. This gives the Security Council scope to impose the appropriate coercive measures. |
FBIS3-59964_0 | Strategies To Counter Drug Addiction in Northern Border States Discussed | Language: Spanish Article Type:CSO [Text] Owing primarily to the damaging influence of U.S. visitors and of Mexican emigrants returning to their places of origin, during the past five years a considerable rise has been observed in drug consumption. It involves mainly the so-called hard drugs (cocaine, morphine, heroin, etc.), consumed by the young population in the country's northern border zone. This disclosure was made by those in charge of programs of preventive action against drug addiction in Chihuahua, Baja California, Tamaulipas, and Sonora States. In the context of the National Meeting on Strategies To Prevent Addiction, organized by the National Sports Commission's Social Crime Prevention Board, the speakers agreed in making the foregoing assertion. At the same time, they revealed that, in the border towns of their respective states, the drug addiction problem has worsened for the reasons mentioned, and also because of economic and social factors inducing the youth, in particular, from all sectors of society, to consume toxic substances. Jose Luis Acevedo Lopez, representative of the Health Secretariat Agency in Baja California, for his part, stressed that, during the past two years, 96,000 persons between ages 14 and 40 have been arrested on various charges involving addiction. He noted that, in the town of Mexicali alone, 50 percent of that group were addicted to alcohol, a quarter consumed marijuana, and the rest were proven to have consumed hard substances. The representative of the ``Buddies'' Civil Association of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, and Piedad Huerta Armeros, in turn, disclosed that the rate of drug consumption in these northern zones of the country has risen. She attributed this to the fact that ``we are a transit area'' for large volumes of different types of drugs shipped to the United States. Some are left in the border towns and, since many people in the local areas are involved in drug distribution and sales, the youth, particularly, are encouraged to begin consuming those substances. During the work sessions on addiction prevention and rehabilitation of addicts, held during the course of the meeting to exchange views on the problems in each of the regions, Ramon Murillo Ochoa, from the Tamaulipas agency of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, declared that it was discovered that the increase often originates in the consumption of socially accepted toxic substances, such as alcohol and tobacco. Hence, he emphasized, the high rate of consumption of the |
FBIS3-59972_1 | New Society for Prevention, Treatment of Drug Abuse Established | a matter of great urgency to begin the prevention and treatment of drug abuse in our country. According to the convention, drug abuse is a social problem that endangers public health and is one which faces the international community. The WHO lists drug abuse as the abuse of anesthetics, medicines for psychiatric treatment, tobacco, alcohol, and dissolvable organic substances. In our country, there is close government and nongovernment attention to the abuse of alcohol and tobacco and their hazards. But problems such as the abuse of non- anesthetic drugs and treatment with addictive pain-killers have not yet received wide attention. A poll of 1,822 households in the Beijing urban area in 1988 found that the drug- dependency rate originating from the abuse of prescribed medicines was 0.309 percent of those polled, half the drugs they depended upon were, on the whole, fever medications. Another special poll of 4,139 medical workers in 10 city and district hospitals in Beijing toward the end of 1989 reported that of the 96 drug dependents, 76, that is 79.2 percent, were on sleeping pills and sedatives. Investigations by the departments concerned show that middle-aged and young people account for the majority of the 250,000 drug addicts in our country, concentrations of whom extend from the Yunnan borders to Guizhou, Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Guangxi, involving some 700 counties in 17 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions. Statistics from the Public Health Ministry's AIDS Monitoring Center show that by November 1993, 60 percent of the nation's HIV carriers became infected by injecting heroin intravenously. Public Health Minister Chen Minzhang said in his address that anesthetics and psychiatric medicines are indispensable in medical work and, properly administered, ease pain and protect health. But, if they are abused or illegally manufactured and sold, they become poisonous drugs and cause harm. He therefore stressed that in preventing and treating drug abuse, we must learn from countries around the world about their successes in combating drugs. It is hoped that the newly founded Chinese Society for the Prevention and Treatment of Drug Abuse will, under the centralized leadership of governments at all levels, launch mass prevention and treatment; mobilize circles in society to campaign widely and educate people against drug abuse, targeting the effort above all at adolescents and youths; work in coordination with the government departments concerned to prevent drug abuse; and work for the health of our country's people. |
FBIS3-59979_0 | Police View Operations of African Traffickers | Language: Thai Article Type:CSO [Text] In an effort to round up foreigners who had entered the country illegally and who were thought to be engaged in criminal activities here, at the beginning of November metropolitan police raided several apartments and rented houses. When police searched an apartment in the Pratu Nam area, they were shocked when they opened the door. Inside the apartment, they found 5-6 blacks in each room. The police searched almost 10 rooms and found 40-50 people. Thus, it's not surprising why so many of these people can be seen walking around the Pratu Nam area in the day. From examining their passports, it was found that all had entered the country legally as tourists and businessmen. Thus, the police had to release them. Police Colonel Khongdet Chusi, the deputy commander of the Northern Bangkok Metropolitan Police and a former police superintendent known for suppressing godfathers, said that ``we are very suspicious about what they are doing here.'' Police files show that many blacks from African countries work as heroin couriers. They use Thailand as a transit point for smuggling heroin to a third country, including the United States and countries in Europe. In those countries, heroin is worth 10 times as much as it is here, that is, it increases from 200,000 baht per kg to 2 million baht per kg. The data matches that of narcotics control units. It was also discovered that traffickers were using the parking lot of a well-known shop in the Pratu Nam area as a narcotics delivery point. ``Those who are caught red-handed usually ask if they will be sentenced to death. After they are told that they won't be, they feel better. They have said that there is much poverty in their native country and so they have to take this risk. If they can get away with this, their lives will improve greatly. And even if they are caught, their families won't suffer, because the agents who hired them will take care of their families as agreed on beforehand,'' said Police Colonel Khongdet. During the past 2-3 years, many blacks have been arrested on charges of trying to smuggle narcotics out of the country. Most have been arrested while waiting to board an airplane to a third country. They use a variety of techniques for smuggling drugs. In the past, they used to pack heroin in condoms and |
FBIS3-59983_0 | African Traffickers Use of Third Country Passports Detailed | Language: Thai Article Type:CSO [Excerpt] [Passage omitted] At 1130 hours on 13 November at the Customs Department, Don Muang Airport, from an investigation conducted by Mr. Suphachai Phisetthawanit, the director-general of the Customs Department, it was learned that narcotics traffickers were planning to smuggle a shipment of heroin out of the country. Thus, he ordered 1st Lieutenant Anan Pananon, the deputy director-general for narcotics suppression, to formulate a plan and arrest the traffickers. At 0200 hours, officials from the Narcotics Control Division, Customs Department, led by Mr. Chawalit Setthamethikun, the division director, searched and arrested Mr. Onomo Simaregina, age 35, an Ethiopian, who was carrying a Cameroon passport, No 154685; Mr. Mamud, age 33, an Ethiopian, who was carrying a Niger passport, No 112207/92; and Mr. Bar Alfa, age 33, an Ethiopian, who was carrying a Sierra Leone passport, No O-159778. When the officials searched the three suspects, they found one marine-colored suitcase containing 10 bricks of heroin that had been wrapped in clear plastic bound with wrapping tape. This heroin weighed approximately 3.6 kg. They also found a black suitcase containing approximately seven kg of heroin. Altogether, officials seized approximately 17.2 kg [as published] of heroin. This heroin had a domestic value of 3.4 million baht. Abroad, it would have been worth 340 million baht. The suspects were arrested in the outbound passenger lounge at Don Muang Airport. During the interrogation, the three suspects said that they were planning to travel from Bangkok to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with their final destination being Lagos, Nigeria. They were booked on Ethiopian Airlines flight No ET-661. In Ethiopia, they sold clothes and writing materials. They couldn't earn enough from that and so they agreed to work as heroin couriers, because they could earn much more money much faster. The officials turned the suspects and evidence over to investigators at the Police Narcotics Control Bureau. |
FBIS3-59998_3 | Drug Violations Increasing in Helsinki Area | drugs have dropped, which makes it possible for even more people to use them. Heroin dominates more markets since it is now available for smoking in addition to intravenous injection. Many users avoid needles because of the danger of AIDS, among other reasons. Meanwhile, nearly forgotten, LSD has made a comeback on the market. ``Many are mixed users. They use various drugs, beer, and possibly even medications,'' Koskinen said. Favorable Talk of Drugs Is Alarming In Koskinen's opinion, favorable talk of drugs is the most alarming development. ``I'm appalled by the fact that many people want to paint a favorable picture of drugs. This is well-received by young people.'' Free of Drugs, R.A., executive director Saini Mustalampi is of the same opinion as Koskinen. ``A quite different phase is now in progress than was only five years ago. A youth culture that looks upon drugs favorably supports the use of a new generation of drugs. The current boom will appear in the treatment statistics in about five years from now,'' Mustalampi predicted. Rid of Drugs, R.A., family workers receive over 500 telephone calls a year and they cannot handle any more than that with their present staff. Stig Lindholm stressed the fact that the use of intoxicants is never a cause, but a symptom. ``The problem for many users of intoxicants is unemployment. When a person has a job, he has a regular schedule, like others, and he feels as though he belongs to something,'' Lindholm reflected. Doctor Sees Only Problem Users Chief physician Antti Holopainen knows that some drug users can control their use of them, but the doctor never sees them. Holopainen has to deal with only the problem users. ``We don't exactly know the reasons why some people become very quickly dependent on drugs while others hold out for a longer time. One important factor is the pleasure effect: Those who get a feeling of well-being from them look for it again, but for some the experience is unpleasant. Since getting high is often a communal experience, psychosocial factors are of great importance,'' Holopainen said. Most frequently the drug user starts with cannabis products and goes from them to other drugs. Very few of them are capable of staying with cannabis, which is not ordinarily a life-threatening drug, but it alienates the user from reality. ``Cannabis users relate to their environment in an unreal manner. They think |
FBIS3-59998_5 | Drug Violations Increasing in Helsinki Area | not ordinarily a life-threatening drug, but it alienates the user from reality. ``Cannabis users relate to their environment in an unreal manner. They think that they are smarter than other people, but it's hard for an outsider to notice that they are. A person who smokes hashish generally withdraws into himself and is not motivated to do anything.'' Drugs are responsible for about 60 cases of death a year in Finland. Users under 20 years of age are now beginning to be counted among them. About 75 percent of regular amphetamine users die under age 35. Alcoholics do not attain the same high mortality rate until they are 20 years older. For Finns the most typical intoxicant is tranquilizer abuse and the second most typical is mixed use of medications and alcohol. True drugs come only after these. Holopainen is alarmed at the large number of unemployed youths because experience shows that heroin use, for example, may spread under exceptional circumstances. Youth Supervisor Recommends Firm Hand Youth supervisor Stig Lindholm is pained when he thinks how many young people's lives are in danger of going down the drain since there is just no way of breaking the cycle of drugs and crime. Altogether too few social workers are serving in the field for them to be able to control the situation and the law does not yet provide for the possibility of sending young people under age 18 with serious intoxicant problems away for compulsory treatment. In the opinion of Lindholm, who handles cases involving young people at the Helsinki Courthouse, there are neither enough treatment centers nor are the existing ones the kind young people need. ``Many young addicts would seek institutional care if that were possible, but local governments are currently more unwilling than before to pay for treatment.'' In Lindholm's opinion, young people who wind up on the streets cannot be gotten off them with empathy. The worst situation is one in which the youth realizes that no one can do anything for him. Deep down every young person craves authority. ``Young people caught up in the spiral are mostly good guys who might go far in life if they had some other kind of incentive.'' Lindholm's dream is some sort of commando group that would go to the spot immediately when families have problems. It would establish a treatment plan and follow through with its implementation. |
FBIS3-59999_0 | Drug-Related Deaths Down, Number of First-Time Cocaine Users Up | Language: German Article Type:CSO [Article by Matina Fietz: ``Fewer Drug-Related Deaths and New Heroin Users; More Take Cocaine''] [Text] The number of drug-related deaths in Germany is declining. In the first 11 months of this year, 1,458 people died as a result of drug consumption. That is a 22-percent drop compared to the same period of the previous year when 1,870 drug victims died. This was told to DIE WELT by the parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Eduard Lintner (CSU) [Christian Social Union], the Federal Government's representative in charge of drugs. The number of first-time users has also dropped--by about 10 percent from 11,892 to 10,724. The largest decline was in heroin consumption--down 21 percent. By constrast, the authorities registered an enormous increase in first-time users of cocaine--up 26 percent. Lintner called this development ``extremely worrisome.'' The effect of cocaine is often underestimated. It leads to a strong psychological dependency, to exaggerated sensations and even to extreme overconfidence. In addition, cocaine consumption also causes physical impairments--from sleep disturbances to paralysis and cardiac arrest. Cocaine addicts are very difficult to identify, said Lintner as an explanation for the difficulties in coping with the problem. Cocaine is primarily consumed by older people already well-established professionally. They are no longer to be found only in the upper classes, but increasingly also in the middle-income groups. They are ``not easily accessible'' to offers of therapy. Besides that, admits Lintner, so far there is no specific therapy for cocaine addicts, and especially no substitute such as methadone for heroin addicts. Lintner rejected the demand that the state dispense drugs under medical supervision: ``This practice would mean continuation of the addiction. That cannot be the intent.'' The goal must be to enable addicts to live a life without drugs. |
FBIS3-60001_1 | Hamburg Hosts Conference on Drug Problem in Europe's Cities | Hamburg, the myth of all-destructive cocaine was to be refuted. If one may give credence to the experts in attendance, then the horror stories about the misery allegedly brought on by cocaine and the cocaine product, crack, to entire city sections in the United States, are wrong. John Morgan of New York avowed that ``there are no crack babies.'' Those underdeveloped infants of crack-smoking women, called ``crack babies'' by the media, ``were the children of particularly poor women--smokers, alcoholics--who also consumed cocaine. But the real cause is poverty. Morgan summarized the results of a study on ``crack babies,'' saying that ``a crack-consuming woman of the middle class would have a very healthy middle-class baby.'' But his compatriots tended to blame drugs for all social grievances. The drug problem is ``predominantly a problem of the underclass,'' was also the opinion of Lynn Zimmer, who had also come from New York. ``Drugs are being sold in the streets of slums by people who have nothing else to lose. The police can arrest them without great ado.'' In the past 10 years, hundreds of thousands of these smalltime dealers have been put in prison. ``No one in the United States believes that the drug problem can be resolved that way.'' But it is very difficult for the middle class to gain access to drugs as long as the substance is dealt only in ghettos. And precisely that is being made into policy. It was said at the conference that, unlike heroin, crack and cocaine are not addictive. ``It is easy to stop using them,'' John Morgan assured the audience. It has not been proven that cocaine causes serious psychological damage, such as psychoses. Rather, there are many indications that the people concerned already were psychotic before they started using drugs. Scheerer advised particularly unstable people against using any drugs, ``be it cocaine or alcohol.'' But why is cocaine so disparaged? The criminology professor had an answer for that, too: The ``political dramatization'' is to distract from the fact that there ``are no actual problems'' with cocaine users, although there must be thousands who sniff the white powder, as one can estimate from the amounts confiscated. ``Cocaine consumers are socially integrated.'' Horst Bossong, put in charge of drugs by the Hamburg Senat, was also of the opinion that ``Europe has no truly serious cocaine problem.'' The fact that this drug nevertheless became the subject |
FBIS3-60005_0 | Ineffectiveness of City's Drug Treatment Viewed | Language: Swedish Article Type:CSO [Article by Lova Olsson: ``Forced Treatment Without Effect''] [Text] The forced treatment of heavy drug users in the city of Stockholm has a very bad effect. Most of them continue to use narcotics after the treatment period--although the most important objective of the expensive care is to break the destructive addiction. The mortality among those who have recently been released from an institution is instead ``remarkably'' high. More in 1993 This is the gist of a study, so far unpublished, of the effects of drug treatment recently carried out by social medical officer Gunnar Agren, research head of the research and development bureau of the Social Service. But in spite of this, considerably more drug addicts have been placed in Stockholm's so-called LVM [Addict Treatment Law] center during 1993, compared to last year, according to information from the Social Service's treatment bureau. Harsh Criticism Compulsory treatment--which in part is supposed to break a serious addiction and in part motivate the addict to treatment under voluntary forms--is subjected to harsh point-by-point criticism in the R&D bureau's report. Gunnar Agren even proposes a reevaluation of existing legislation, which would either lead to abolishing the law or to more restricted application of it. ``Forced treatment is simply catastrophic. I believe it is very doubtful whether it has the effect it is supposed to have according to the intentions of the law. The data quite clearly show that the lifesaving effect does not exist but rather the opposite. The question is then whether one should spend so many resources on the absolutely most expensive form of treatment,'' says Gunnar Agren. In his judgement the result of the Stockholm study can also be applied to the country as a whole. The number of drug-free persons six months and one year, respectively, after their institutional stay is below 10 percent, according to the three different studies of five LVM centers which Gunnar Agren uses as his basis. Mortality is high; at one of the treatment centers studied as many as 12 percent died within a year after being released. For injection addicts of heroin, in particular, forced treatment has bad effects. The institutional stay, which costs up to 3,000 kronor a day, has not contributed to a single heroin addict losing his addiction to drugs. ``There has been an increase in the number of heroin addicts who are subjected to forced treatment, |
FBIS3-60007_1 | Conference Considers Measures Against Drug Addiction, Trafficking | to address this issue,'' said Mr. Harut'yunyan. ``It is essential to carry out fundamental and consistent work efforts.'' The participants in the conference presented their views on the subject. Republic of Armenia Minister of Health Ara Babloyan stated that last year his ministry had submitted to the government a number of proposals aimed at resolving these fundamental issues. Serious work continues to be carried out jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. The conviction was expressed that an individual agency working separately cannot achieve results. Mr. Babloyan stated, ``There is a need for a systematized plan, implementation of which calls for the creation of a special commission (taking international experience into account) under the president, vice president or prime minister. The ministries of health, justice, internal affairs, education, and social services, the public prosecutor's office, as well as public organizations and organizations dealing with the dissemination of information must be involved in these projects.'' The minister went on to state that as of 1 January 1993 there were 1,113 registered drug addicts, 796 of whom were enrolled in a medical help program. Drug addict figures break down as follows: 0.01 percent are 18 years of age or younger; 50 percent are between 19 and 30; 31 percent are from 31 to 40 years of age; 14.5 percent are between 41 and 50; and the remainder are over 50. Forty-seven percent of the total are blue-collar workers, 10 percent are white-collar workers, and 3 percent are students. At the present time there is a 150-bed drug addiction treatment center in Yerevan. There is a similar 50-bed facility in Gyumri, plus 47 offices in various rayons and cities in this republic. Much attention is being devoted to the question of drugs produced in this republic as well as drugs brought in from elsewhere. Mr. Baboyan noted that this issue was seriously addressed at a recent meeting held with Minister of State A. Ghazaryan. A decision was made to hold a special conference dealing with the issue of habit-forming drugs and narcotic substances. Sergey Aslanyan, chief of the of the Ministry of Internal Affairs directorate which deals with drug trafficking and combating drug abuse, discussed the work being done by his directorate and its results. He particularly stressed Operation Poppy-93, in the course of which a large quantity of narcotic substances was discovered and seized. He noted that |
FBIS3-60007_3 | Conference Considers Measures Against Drug Addiction, Trafficking | the Ministry of Internal Affairs considers it essential to pass a new law, which should specify a number of important provisions: drug addiction must be differentiated from drug trafficking, and Article 44 of the Code of Administrative Violations must be revised. Mr. Aslanyan also stressed the importance of establishing a special coordinating commission. Artavazd Gevorgyan, chief public prosecutor of the Republic of Armenia, noted that certain groups are engaged in drug trafficking for purposes of financial gain. Judicial practice in the past has been quite severe in this regard. ``At the present time we must apply existing laws, and therefore we must first of all uncover these criminal enterprises,'' said Mr. Gevorgyan. In 1992, for example, 162 crimes were reported but, according to the prosecutor, ``who knows what percentage this represents of total crimes--probably a very small percentage.'' One hundred eighty four crimes have been reported during the first seven months of this year. Mr. Gevorgyan is convinced that these numbers will grow unless all of us concentrate our attention on this area of criminal activity. It was reported that all rayon and city prosecutors have received instructions to cooperate with and assist the 4th Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Hayk Harut'yunyan, chief of the State National Security Directorate of the 3rd Main Directorate, stated that his directorate works in the area of identifying and neutralizing groups involved in drug trafficking. They consider it essential to close down those routes by which narcotic substances are being brought into this republic. An extremely important element here is the problem of ``open borders.'' The State National Security Directorate considers it essential to draw up and enter into a bilateral agreement dealing with drug trafficking and, together with counterpart agencies in other interested countries, to establish a permanent body which would exercise oversight, as well as to establish a data bank. It is considered to be of utmost importance to provide weapons and equipment to agencies combating drug trafficking and drug addiction.... [Paragraph omitted] In conclusion, Republic of Armenia Vice-President Gagik Harut'yunyan noted that the campaign against drug addiction and drug trafficking in this republic will in fact assume new forms and new attributes. We shall find ourselves in a grave situation if we continue to proceed as before, if under conditions whereby changes have taken place around us we fail to have at our disposal a comprehensive system. Of serious |
FBIS3-60007_6 | Conference Considers Measures Against Drug Addiction, Trafficking | not comparable to one another, but both are alien to our national character.'' It is absolutely essential to eradicate the causes of this evil. For this reason the establishment of a substantial, well-designed program is considered a prerequisite. It is very important that each and every citizen realize that he cannot stay outside this campaign. Widespread publicity is essential: the people must understand the enormous danger presented by drug addiction and drug trafficking. Mr. Harut'yunyan stated that 52 percent of those polled gave an affirmative reply to the following sociologically-oriented question: ``Are you concerned that a child or relative of yours is a drug user?'' Mr. Harut'yunyan noted that, unfortunately, drug abuse is widespread in the schools: not as regards level of drug addiction, but rather the fact that a large number of young people are trying drugs. The situation has become calamitous at higher educational institutions: a large number of students not only try drugs but develop a need for them. ``At the most highly-disciplined higher educational institutions, even drug abuse is of a widespread nature,'' said the vice-president. ``The fact is that we do not have working mechanisms within the educational system.'' A situation of inertia continues in the field of medicine, involving narrower and more costly means of combating drugs. At this point Mr. Harut'yunyan stressed the importance of differentiating drug addicts from those involved in drug trafficking, whereby the former, who are sick, must be given an opportunity to become cured, while the latter must be severely punished. ``We should not allow the problem of drug addiction and drug trafficking to develop into a full-blown drug mafia, for otherwise we shall not be able to root out this phenomenon,'' said the vice-president. Gagik Harut'yunyan then proposed that all submitted suggestions and questions formulated at the conference be reviewed and further developed. Within one week's time they should be submitted to the President's staff, in the process of which all suggestions and proposals should be systematized and computerized through the efforts of government and the president's staff; he proposed that Vice-President of the Republic of Armenia G. Harut'yunyan, Minister of State of the Republic of Armenia A. Ghazaryan, and K. Rhubinyan, head of the oversight agency under the president of the Republic of Armenia, be tasked with summarizing all suggestions and proposals and submitting them at the next meeting, which would take place in two weeks time.... |
FBIS3-60008_5 | `Rapid' Increase in Nation's Drug Problems Examined | The process of bringing the campaign in Armenia into conformity with the requirements of the convention has now commenced. First of all, international experience must be taken into consideration. A draft national plan to combat drug trafficking is presently being formulated: it provides for the formation of certain structures, legislative enactments to assist the efforts of government agencies, and the securing of participation by public organizations and the press. Drug rehabilitation clinic activities must also be restructured with this aim in mind, as in the current situation the clinic is hard put to conduct effective treatment activities. It is also essential to establish a rehabilitation center. Effectiveness of treatment has been very poor to date, due to the lack of such a center, since treatment ends up by necessity being incomplete. Requirements of the international convention include revision of legislation and separation of drug addiction from drug trafficking in a country's laws. Drug addiction should be viewed as a sickness and should be treated, while drug trafficking should be punished more severely. Application of penalties up to and including the death penalty is anticipated, as well as standardization of penalties (for example, for illegal possession of 100 grams of an illegal narcotic substance, punishment runs anywhere from a monetary fine to three years in prison). Sergey Aslanyan, head of the Directorate for Combating Drug Trafficking and Drug Addiction, is convinced that combating drug trafficking must begin with making the law stricter and with ``cleaning up'' internal affairs agencies. It is essential to put an end to the widespread abuses and illegal actions connected with drug trafficking which for years were carried out by law enforcement agencies. The campaign will never be successful, however, without the participation of the public as a whole. The fact is that members of the public, with a false sense of love of their fellow man and in the fear of being labeled a ``squealer,'' are in fact carrying out betrayal of the entire nation and its future. Even today 20 percent of all cases involving drugs come to the attention of authorities through telephone calls, including anonymous tips. The fight against drugs is not that of one individual or of a few individuals, but is a common fight by all of us. The enemy will not readily yield or surrender. And we must make haste, before Armenia is engulfed by the evil monster of international |
FBIS3-60016_7 | Wasmosy Discusses Army Commander's `Power,' Narcotics | involved in drug trafficking or money laundering if I do not have evidence. If you tell me who is guilty of these crimes and bring the evidence against the person then it is my responsibility to follow it up, but in the meantime I cannot prejudge. Ruffinelli: Engineer, please allow me to mention some figures that are of concern to the U.S. Embassy which, as you known, is a landmark in international affairs. They say that during the past years we have only managed to seize a few kilos of cocaine, I think it was 48 kg or a similarly small figure: meanwhile neighboring countries talk about tonnes. More than 30 Paraguayan citizens charged with drug trafficking or consumption have been arrested abroad, but this has not happened here. This is out of proportion. Wasmosy: There are two alternatives. Either drug trafficking has dropped here or the entire government is involved in this trade. Therefore, to uncover the government officials involved in this trade I need the necessary means. I have asked them to install radar units in Mariscal Estigarribia, Ciudad del Este, Concepcion, and Ayolas and to provide two helicopter-gunships operated by U.S. Marines. What better proof is there than that to show I want to fight this scourge openly? Ruffinelli: However, they maintain that when you list the aid received you do not mention the DEA agents who use the infrastructure exclusively designed to fight drug trafficking. Wasmosy: That is right but the U.S. Embassy has also included in the global aid granted us the cost of bringing an aircraft with radar [AWACS] to our country. I am grateful to them for this aircraft but the decision to send it here was theirs. They cannot charge the cost of sending an aircraft equipped with radar to the aid granted to Paraguay. They are trying to determine the origin of this nefarious merchandise which is consumed in their country. They cannot charge this cost to the aid granted to us. That is a U.S. expenditure or investment, not a Paraguayan expenditure. No. If they were to really grant us support and we did not fight drug trafficking, then we would be guilty. But with what budget can I fight these people who are much better equipped with more sophisticated weapons than what our Army has. They have money to buy the most sophisticated weapons. We have discussed this subject |
FBIS3-60018_0 | Colombian Cooperation Allows Detection of Airplane Carrying Drugs | Language: Spanish Article Type:BFN [Text] Swift contact between the Peruvian and Colombian Air Forces permitted the detection of a light airplane belonging to Colombian drug traffickers in Peruvian territory. FAP [Peruvian Air Force] fighters destroyed the plane because its crew refused to obey the orders of the Peruvian military pilots. The Colombian plane, a "Turbo Commander" with forged license OB-2113, was destroyed at an illegal airstrip 20 km southeast of `Palma Pampa' (Ayacucho), while loading bags of drugs. The plane was spotted thanks to Colombian radar operating in that country's jungle. Through a radio message Colombian authorities passed the information on to their Peruvian peers. It was established that the plane entered Peruvian territory from Brazil, between Iquitos and Leticia, flying at 22,000 feet, that is, at 7,000 m. After the plane was spotted in Peruvian airspace, the FAP high command in Huallaga immediately sent two fighters to intercept it. The fighters took off from the Santa Lucia police antinarcotics base and headed for Luisiana (Ayacucho). When the plane was spotted it was loading bags of drugs and fuel for a trip to Colombia. The FAP planes fired machine-gun bursts, which caused the plane to catch fire. The plane was destroyed. At the airstrip there were at least 15 people supporting the crew. This is the 11th small plane belonging to drug traffickers that the FAP has destroyed over the past few months. |
FBIS3-60025_0 | Editorial Urges Greater Regional Cooperation To Stem Drug Trade | Language: Thai Article Type:BFN [Editorial: "Burmese Troops Are Crushing Khun Sa"] [Text] The Burmese Government has sent its ground and air forces to mop up the ethnic minority troops under the command of Khun Sa. Heavy clashes have been reported since December inside of Burma, opposite the Thai border at Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. The sound of gunfire was not heard over the new year holiday. The Burmese Government, however, has reportedly sent more troops to crush the international drug kingpin's army and cut off the huge income he earns each year from his opium crops and the export of heroin. About 20 heroin refineries are believed to exist in that part of the Golden Triangle in Burma that is under the control of Khun Sa, who is said to command an army of over 6,000 troops. If the Burmese junta cannot stop Khun Sa's expansion, the world faces a bigger danger from drug addiction. The world looks upon Thailand as a transit route for opium and heroin smuggled out of the Golden Triangle for distribution worldwide. Thailand has never been able to stop the flow of drugs completely, no matter how tough its prevention and suppression measures are. The vice chairman of China's Narcotics Suppression Commission once said that, only a few years after the country opened up in 1976, it began to encounter several problems related to narcotics--especially heroin--flowing out of the Golden Triangle and the Economic Quadrangle to its north. China seized 900 kg of heroin in 1991, but in 1992 it seized a total of 4,200 kg of heroin. Most of the arrests were made in Yunnan. Heroin is therefore one of the most worrisome problems China now faces. It can be assumed that without effective measures by both Thailand and China to stop production at its source--and halt the flow of narcotics from the Golden Triangle and the Economic Quadrangle in Burma before they reach international markets--narcotic drugs will surely continue to flood world markets. We cannot rely entirely on the capabilities of the Burmese soldiers to suppress Khun Sa's army and provide the only hope for preventing people around the world from becoming slaves to drug addiction. It is the duty of Burma's neighbors--Thailand, Laos, and China--to cooperate closely in their efforts and seriously prevent and suppress the trafficking of all types of narcotic drugs. |
FBIS3-60031_0 | Finance Ministry Source Says Law To Curb Money Laundering `Unlikely' | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] In a bid to curb money laundering in Thailand, Washington has pressed Bangkok to introduce a law forcing money spenders and depositors to declare the source of funds. A Finance Ministry source said that US Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen is expected to repeat the call at his meeting with Finance Minister Tharin Nimmanhemin on January 19. The topic will be on the agenda, which includes a double taxation avoidance treaty, the bilateral Treaty of Amity, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Last year, U.S. officials urged their Thai counterparts to introduce a law to prevent money laundering, following bilateral talks on how to curb the narcotics trade. At that time, Thailand informed the U.S. that it would consider the matter. The source, however, noted that the Thai government is unlikely to introduce such a law as it would burden local financial institutions. Another source noted that it might be difficult for the government to even pass the required bill in the current political situation. Moreover, Thailand currently has some laws related to money laundering practices. The first source added that the introduction of a new law might run counter to the country's plan to move towards financial liberalization since it would lead to restrictive regulations on the remittance of money. At any rate, the Finance Ministry has set up a working committee to study the pros and cons of such a law and whether it's timely for the country to introduce a bill. Recently, Finance Ministry officials also flew to Singapore to discuss procedures in that country's money-laundering act. Singapore is the only ASEAN country which has a money-laundering act because, being a free-port nation, the industrialized island sees a need for tight control of money remittances. The source said that Secretary Bentsen is likely to urge Thailand to introduce a bill by citing the healthy growth of the economy, Bangkok's current financial liberalization and its ambition to become a regional financial centre. |
FBIS3-60041_0 | Ministry Dismisses Magazine's Linkage of Kurdish Terrorists, Iranian Drug Traffickers | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Sofia, December 30 (BTA) -- The Ministry of the Interior tonight denied a story in the TEMPO magazine of Ankara, alleging that members of a Kurdish terrorist organization were based in Bulgaria. "The Ministries of Bulgaria and Turkey have signed a cooperation agreement and exchange information on the combating of terrorism," says a press release of the Interior Ministry received at BTA. It stresses that Bulgaria's special services have no information on the existence of such an organization in this country and have not exchanged information on the matter with Turkey. "What the magazine says about there being a link between a Kurdish terrorist organization and Iranian drug traffickers could be described only as a journalist's interpretation unsupported by facts and evidence," the press release also says. The story in TEMPO, commented in most big Bulgarian dailies today, says the Bulgarian special services have found out that PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan] members have penetrated into Bulgaria after some West European countries outlawed them. The story alleges that the PKK was connected with one Iraqi and two Iranian drug runners, discovered in a recent police check in a Sofia flat, in which one policeman was killed. Indeed one police officer was killed on December 6, and another died from his wounds in hospital later on, but the Bulgarian police reported they had been shot by Iranian drug traffickers, shot dead by the police as they resisted arrest. The Interior Ministry also stated it had no information on the existence of a Bulgarian-Greek ring which, according to ELLADHA SIMERA of Greece, illegally transfers foreign currency. Allegedly, it operates through gambling casinos in Bulgaria and is connected with senior government officials. "The Interior Ministries of Bulgaria and Greece have signed an agreement which includes exchange of operative information, so far, however, there has been neither information nor inquiries about the activities of such a group," says the ministry's press release. |
FBIS3-60044_1 | Statistics on Drug Seizures in 1993 Published | the border and 27 times inside the country. The police found less than 20 grams of drugs on dealers and consumers on 45 occasions. The police and the Customs Office together confiscated on 62 occasions 427 kgs of heroin, 253 kgs of hashish (a quarter of a ton of this was found in a truck in one consignment), 10 kgs of marijuana, and 3 kgs of cocaine. Officers of the Customs and Excise Office confiscated a significant amount of drugs on 35 occasions, significant amount meaning drugs equivalent to 20 grams of heroin. Drugs were found in railway carriages 13 times, six times in trucks, seven times in cars, four times in hiding places in buses, and five times in airports hidden in various parcels. The 200 kgs of heroin found in a truck at Nagylak in December was the biggest catch of the Customs and Excise Office. They wanted to carry out a detailed check on the truck when the driver jumped out of his cabin and escaped; he still has not been found. According to officials of the Customs and Excise Office national headquarters, in 1993, customs officers learned how to recognize the documents of trucks that are very likely to be carrying drugs. It is a telltale sign if the driver comes from a drug-growing area, or if the consignment was sent from such an area. It is also suspicious if the truck is progressing too slowly through the Balkans toward Hungary. One-third of all the confiscated drugs were found by the customs officers on the basis of police information, police experts claim. However, the customs officers say that they would be able to discover much more drugs if their work was assisted by modern screening equipment. From U.S. aid, Bulgarian customs officers started to use such equipment at their Turkish border, and their efficiency has multiplied since then. The police caught significant amounts of drugs inside the country on 27 occasions--20 times in Budapest--in 1993. They confiscated amounts smaller than 20 grams on 45 occasions, from drug dealers and consumers, and from burglars of pharmacies who stole narcotic materials. Altogether 119 drug smugglers and dealers were arrested in connection with 72 cases. On the first day of 1994 at Lokoshaza, 3.9 kgs of heroin was found in the double-based suitcase of a German woman who was traveling from Turkey to Germany on the Ovidius international express. |
FBIS3-60045_0 | Turkish `Gray Wolves' Terrorists Reportedly Involved in Heroin Trafficking | Language: French Article Type:BFN [Article by Alain Lallemand: "Turkish Extreme Right, Ankara's Objective Ally"] [Text] Who are these "Gray Wolves" in Belgium which Interior Minister Louis Tobback is accusing of leading the anti-Kurd demonstrations of recent days? Their official name is "Turk-islam Federasyonu" or "Belcika Turk-islam Kultur Dernekleri Federasyonu," which can be translated as "Turkish-Islamic Federation" or "Federation of Turkish-Islamic Cultural Associations of Belgium." The Belgian headquarters of this federation is in Beringen, and its European headquarters are in Frankfurt. It is also supported actively at international level by the Turkish Government, which denies this, as might be expected. As an extremely dangerous extreme right movement, it is an avatar of Colonel Alparslan Turkes' fascist nationalist party. Highly active in the late 1970's and 1980's, its members specialized in guerilla warfare and the murder of progressive politicians. They also engaged in heroin trafficking in order to finance their activities. However, they are even better known for their direct involvement in the failed attempt against Pope John-Paul II in May 1981. If we are to believe the Turkish daily, MILLIYET, the person who fired the shots in Saint Peter's square in Rome, Ali Agca, was allegedly harbored for a while with the Belgian representative of the "Gray Wolves," Selahattin Saygin, in Maasmechelen. Do the "Gray Wolves" also benefit in Belgium from the relative leniency of the Turkish authorities? Of course: In 1986, during the third conference of "Gray Wolves" of Belgium, the fundamentalist Turkish newspaper, DUSUNCE, reported that apart from Selahattin Saygin, the Turkish consul from Antwerp, Feyha Enc, and the Turkish minister of health, Halil Sivgin, also appeared at the podium. Belgium is also used by the "Gray Wolves" for heroin trafficking. This information has already been published several times in LE SOIR, but it should again be pointed out that one of the "Gray Wolves'" most famous activists, Oral Celik, alias Bedri Ates (borrowed name), was arrested on 10 November 1986 in Halluin by the French customs authorities, while leaving our country with 3.6 kg of heroin. Concealed under a false identity, he has since admitted that he was indeed the extreme right activist fingered by his fellow terrorist, Ali Agca. Further evidence of the criminal activity of the "Gray Wolves" in Belgium was the presence in September 1990 in the Liege suburbs of Ahmet Esensoy, who was involved in heroin trafficking and was the right-hand man of Rifat |
FBIS3-60054_0 | `No Clear Explanation' for Decrease in Oslo Overdose Deaths | Language: Norwegian Article Type:CSO [Article by Ole Martin Bjorklid: "Fewer Overdose Deaths in Oslo"] [Text] The number of deaths caused by drug abuse has decreased sharply in Oslo this year. In Drammen on the other hand, the number of such deaths has doubled. So far this year 42 people have been found dead in Oslo from overdoses. During all of last year 76 such deaths were recorded. There is no clear explanation of this development. The head of the overdose team in Oslo, Rolf-Dieter Cron, thinks that the increase in drug interdiction during the past year has played no part in this positive development. Fewer Emergencies The police are also hesitant to draw any solid conclusions about what impact large drug confiscations have had on the availability in the illegal market. The overdose team has had fewer emergency calls than in the previous two years. At the same time one has had to give antidotes to several people to save their life. Last year about 60 percent of those who had taken an overdose were given an antidote, and this year this has risen to almost 80 percent. "Of the 42 deaths recorded this year we see a trend that many of these do not belong to the typical inner-city environment. Many of these have been visitors. I am now anxious to see if the decline in the number of deaths will also take place in other large cities like Copenhagen, Bremen, and Stockholm," Cron says. He thinks that if there is no decline in the other cities, the overdose team's efforts are an important reason for the decline in Oslo. He thinks that the increase in confiscated sedatives will also have an impact. Police this year have confiscated 30,000 pills compared to about 10,000 last year. Dramatic in Drammen "We know that the mixture of heroin and sedatives is a life-threatening combination. When it is more difficult to obtain pills, this situation will have an effect on the number of overdoses," Cron says. Drammen has had a tremendous increase in the number of drug deaths this past year. So far 21 deaths have been recorded. In all of last year the city had 13 such cases. The cities of Stavanger and Bergen have also had a higher number of overdoses and deaths. Because of the increases there the number of deaths in the entire country will probably not decrease |
FBIS3-60059_8 | Interpol Chief on Fight Against Narcotics | users (as opposed to peddlers) can theoretically choose between treatment or prison. Kendall: Yes, but this law is not being enforced through a lack of means. How many places are available in the specialized centers that can provide treatment for drug addicts? Ten, 20 times as many would be required in order to be effective. Throughout Europe, the state has so far relied too heavily on charity organizations. However, it is up to the state now to take the initiative. On the other hand, this choice between treatment or inprisonment seems to me to be inappropriate: Prison is in no case an effective solution. Drug addicts must be treated--even forced to do so--and doctors must be given the means to help them. Jauvert: Forced? How? Kendall: I do not know. It is the specialists who must decide. Jauvert: Do you think doctors should be allowed to prescribe substitute products, such as methadone, or even heroin? Kendall: Why not? If results can be achieved in this way... I have only one reservation: Substitute products should not replace one form of dependence with another for any great length of time. But, once again, this is a matter for specialists. Jauvert: As a matter of fact, a few days ago, the highest medical authority in the United States announced it was favorable to legalization, purely and simply... Kendall: I am totally opposed to such a view. Jauvert: Why? Kendall: Simply because legalizing drugs would automatically lead to an increase in consumption. Do you know why more and more people are in favor of legalization? Because, through laziness or ignorance, the phenomenon has been trivialized. When 400 kilos of cannabis are seized in Calais, who cares? Nevertheless, if tomorrow a chemical plant dumps toxic products into a river and kills some fish, that will stir up a scandal. Drug dealers do that every day, by placing products that are highly toxic to humans on the market, and nobody says a word. Jauvert: Yet, alcohol and cigarettes are sold freely... Kendall: So what? Two toxic products are already socially accepted. Is this a reason to add two more to the list? What else should be legalized next--crack, LSD? At what age? Jauvert: It is also argued that legalizing drug consumption would reduce the incidence of crime. Kendall: For a while, perhaps. But did the end of prohibition cause the mafia or gangsters to disappear in |
FBIS3-60064_0 | Armed Forces Demand `Total Control' Over U.S. Funds Earmarked for Antidrug Fight | Language: Spanish Article Type:BFN [Text] La Paz, 15 Dec (ANF) -- Defense Minister Antonio Cespedes and General Moises Schirique, joint chief of staff, have demanded "total control" over the U.S. funds that come to the country as military assistance and within the framework of bilateral agreements to fight drug trafficking. The two high-ranking officials told this newspaper that "the U.S. military assistance is not in cash, and they administer the funds themselves. For instance, $1 million is promised, but 50 percent or more is used to cover the movement and stay in Bolivia of their own personnel. They even import their own water with those funds." The sources explained that if the United States delivered the funds assigned to military assistance in cash, no U.S. advisers would need to come to Bolivia, and "Bolivian professional soldiers would take over the jobs they fulfill in the midst of continuous controversies." The defense minister said it would be very good if the Armed Forces were allowed to directly administer the U.S. military assistance. Gen. Moises Schirique told local media that "we would like the United States to give us the money to carry out the tasks they perform." "It is undoubtedly something we must achieve gradually. The participation of our local contribution must increase and then take over altogether," Minister Cespedes Toro said, during the Engineering Military School 1993 graduation ceremony. The Defense Ministry official contradicted the general in that Cespedes said the Armed Forces do not depend in any way on the U.S. Embassy, while Schirique said the U.S. technical cooperation "generates a certain dependence of the institution." "What happens is not dependence, it is a plan for U.S. military assistance and support for the fight against drug trafficking," the minister said. The U.S. assistance has been dropping in the continent for some time. Bolivia, due to the satisfactory level of its fight against drug trafficking, will apparently be affected by a smaller drop as compared to other countries in the region, the minister said. "We still need to conduct bilateral negotiations on the matter," Defense Minister Antonio Cespedes Toro said. |
FBIS3-60072_0 | New Senad Executive Secretary Installed | Language: Spanish Article Type:BFN [Excerpts] Retired Brigadier General Juan Ramon Rosa Rodriguez was installed this morning as the new National Antinarcotics Secretariat (Senad) executive secretary, replacing Division General Mario Escobar Anzoategui, who tendered his resignation last year. Rosa Rodriguez ia a military officer who went into retirement a few years ago and served in the 3d Army Corps. Rosa Rodriguez took a course on drug trafficking in the United States. Therefore, he is supported by the U.S. diplomatic mission. The president of the Republic, Juan Carlos Wasmosy, took considerable time in appointing the Senad head. The Senad reshuffle prompted "diplomatic" frictions between Wasmosy and U.S. ambassador to Paraguay Jon David Glassman. It was actually the U.S. ambassador who announced that the new Senad head would be appointed sometime this week, at the latest. According to military sources, there were three candidates: One of them rejected the post and the other two were not approved by the U.S. mission. [passage omitted] The president of the Republic, engineer Juan Carlos Wasmosy, has given "absolute liberty" to the new Senad head, retired Gen. Juan Ramon Rosa Rodriguez for the latter to properly discharge his new duties. Rosa Rodriguez noted that if he does not properly discharge his duties, it will not be because he is unwilling to do so, but because he does not have the elements required for it. The president said: "I fully trust you and I ask everyone here and all the organizations to provide the support required for an all-out struggle against money laundering and crime." Addressing Gen. Rosa Rodriguez, the president added: "You have all my support and the support of all levels of government to fight this scourge without any protection. [sentence as published] You have absolute liberty and the support of the national government to fight this evil." Moving on, the president thanked U.S. Ambassador Jon Glassman for the assistance the U.S. Embassy has supplied our country to fight drug trafficking "because, sadly enough, our country is being used by criminals as a transit country." The president concluded by saying: "I hope that all of us, united, some day may be able to wipe out this damned trafficking from America's Southern Cone." Rosa Rodriguez The new Senad head said: "Thank you very much for trusting me, Mr. President. I cannot promise more than dedication and honest effort, but I can assure you that if Senad does |
FBIS3-60078_2 | East Asia Narcotics Roundup for 10-16 January | 94 pp 1, 4) Nigerians Arrested at Karachi Airport With 5.6 Kg of Heroin The Customs Drug Enforcement Cell arrested two Nigerian nationals at the Karachi airport after finding 5.6 kg of heroin powder in their bags. (Karachi DAWN in English 12 Jan 94 p 5) Heroin Seized From Packages in Postal Systems Customs officers have seized 1.290 kg of heroin from gift packages placed in the postal system, including 250 grams in a package addressed to New York, 330 grams in a package headed to Toronto, and 500 grams in a package intended for Denmark. (Karachi DAWN in English 15 Jan 94 p 3) SOUTHEAST ASIA Brunei Couple Arrested at Airport With 25 Grams of Heroin A Bruneian couple was arrested after arriving at Brunei International Airport from Bangkok on 16 December. They had 25 grams of heroin hidden in baby diapers. Under Bruneian law, anyone found in possession of more than 15 grams of heroin can be hanged. (Kuala Belait THE BORNEO BULLETIN in English 20 Dec 93 p 1) Burma Four Arrested in Connection With Seized Drug "Flasks" Members of a combined group searching vehicles at a checkpoint near Lashio on 10 December found 40 flasks used in refining drugs hidden in a vehicle traveling from Muse to Lashio. Win Myint, alias Yang Yon Chin, was at the wheel and the conductor was Kyaw Kyaw Lwin. Based on their confessions, the combined group arrested Yang Kya Naing, 22, and Hkun Shan Kwe, 23, at the Aung Aung Hotel. They were supposed to receive the flasks in Lashio. (Rangoon THE NEW LIGHT OF BURMA in English 24 Dec 93 p 7) Two Arrested in Phensedyl Seizure Acting on a tip, the Homalin special antidrug squad seized 172 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup aboard the schooner Zaw Min Tu at Khowe Jetty, Homalin Township, on 20 November. Police booked Nyunt Maung, 40, the owner of the drugs; and Pyone Cho, 27, owner of the schooner. (Rangoon THE NEW LIGHT OF BURMA in English 24 Dec 93 p 7) Katha Drug Squad Arrests Three With 4.9 Kg of Opium Members of the Katha special antidrug squad seized 4.8989 kg of raw opium on 26 November when they searched passengers on a bus. Pinlebu Police booked Tin Win, 35; Bo Yin, 25; and Kyaw Win, 25. (Rangoon THE NEW LIGHT OF BURMA in English 24 Dec 93 p 7) Two Arrested |
FBIS3-60096_0 | Turkish `Gray Wolves' Terrorists Reportedly Involved in Heroin Trafficking | Language: French Article Type:BFN [Article by Alain Lallemand: "Turkish Extreme Right, Ankara's Objective Ally"] [Text] Who are these "Gray Wolves" in Belgium which Interior Minister Louis Tobback is accusing of leading the anti-Kurd demonstrations of recent days? Their official name is "Turk-islam Federasyonu" or "Belcika Turk-islam Kultur Dernekleri Federasyonu," which can be translated as "Turkish-Islamic Federation" or "Federation of Turkish-Islamic Cultural Associations of Belgium." The Belgian headquarters of this federation is in Beringen, and its European headquarters are in Frankfurt. It is also supported actively at international level by the Turkish Government, which denies this, as might be expected. As an extremely dangerous extreme right movement, it is an avatar of Colonel Alparslan Turkes' fascist nationalist party. Highly active in the late 1970's and 1980's, its members specialized in guerilla warfare and the murder of progressive politicians. They also engaged in heroin trafficking in order to finance their activities. However, they are even better known for their direct involvement in the failed attempt against Pope John-Paul II in May 1981. If we are to believe the Turkish daily, MILLIYET, the person who fired the shots in Saint Peter's square in Rome, Ali Agca, was allegedly harbored for a while with the Belgian representative of the "Gray Wolves," Selahattin Saygin, in Maasmechelen. Do the "Gray Wolves" also benefit in Belgium from the relative leniency of the Turkish authorities? Of course: In 1986, during the third conference of "Gray Wolves" of Belgium, the fundamentalist Turkish newspaper, DUSUNCE, reported that apart from Selahattin Saygin, the Turkish consul from Antwerp, Feyha Enc, and the Turkish minister of health, Halil Sivgin, also appeared at the podium. Belgium is also used by the "Gray Wolves" for heroin trafficking. This information has already been published several times in LE SOIR, but it should again be pointed out that one of the "Gray Wolves'" most famous activists, Oral Celik, alias Bedri Ates (borrowed name), was arrested on 10 November 1986 in Halluin by the French customs authorities, while leaving our country with 3.6 kg of heroin. Concealed under a false identity, he has since admitted that he was indeed the extreme right activist fingered by his fellow terrorist, Ali Agca. Further evidence of the criminal activity of the "Gray Wolves" in Belgium was the presence in September 1990 in the Liege suburbs of Ahmet Esensoy, who was involved in heroin trafficking and was the right-hand man of Rifat |
FBIS3-60108_0 | `No Clear Explanation' for Decrease in Oslo Overdose Deaths | Language: Norwegian Article Type:CSO [Article by Ole Martin Bjorklid: "Fewer Overdose Deaths in Oslo"] [Text] The number of deaths caused by drug abuse has decreased sharply in Oslo this year. In Drammen on the other hand, the number of such deaths has doubled. So far this year 42 people have been found dead in Oslo from overdoses. During all of last year 76 such deaths were recorded. There is no clear explanation of this development. The head of the overdose team in Oslo, Rolf-Dieter Cron, thinks that the increase in drug interdiction during the past year has played no part in this positive development. Fewer Emergencies The police are also hesitant to draw any solid conclusions about what impact large drug confiscations have had on the availability in the illegal market. The overdose team has had fewer emergency calls than in the previous two years. At the same time one has had to give antidotes to several people to save their life. Last year about 60 percent of those who had taken an overdose were given an antidote, and this year this has risen to almost 80 percent. "Of the 42 deaths recorded this year we see a trend that many of these do not belong to the typical inner-city environment. Many of these have been visitors. I am now anxious to see if the decline in the number of deaths will also take place in other large cities like Copenhagen, Bremen, and Stockholm," Cron says. He thinks that if there is no decline in the other cities, the overdose team's efforts are an important reason for the decline in Oslo. He thinks that the increase in confiscated sedatives will also have an impact. Police this year have confiscated 30,000 pills compared to about 10,000 last year. Dramatic in Drammen "We know that the mixture of heroin and sedatives is a life-threatening combination. When it is more difficult to obtain pills, this situation will have an effect on the number of overdoses," Cron says. Drammen has had a tremendous increase in the number of drug deaths this past year. So far 21 deaths have been recorded. In all of last year the city had 13 such cases. The cities of Stavanger and Bergen have also had a higher number of overdoses and deaths. Because of the increases there the number of deaths in the entire country will probably not decrease |
FBIS3-60116_0 | Potential for Expanding Drug Transit Routes Through Russia Viewed | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by Natan Zablotskis, Scientific Research Institute of the Russia Federation Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Dmitriy Oreshkin, Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences: "Another Base for Drug Trade?"] [Text] Russia possesses an enormous potential for drug production. Areas occupied by wild hemp and opium poppies comprise more than 1 million hectares with a yield of up to 1 tonne of raw material per hectare. Actually, in Russia the number of drug users is increasing more rapidly than the population and by the year 2000 will reach 5-7 percent of the country's population. At the same time, in the next 10-15 years Russia will not play a noticeable role in the import and export of drugs on the world market. This is associated primarily with the fact that the quality and accordingly the price of drugs traditionally mass-produced and used in Russia are considerably lower than in Europe or America. Therefore, and also in view of Russia's rapid development of economic ties with other countries, Russia is being allotted the role of a transshipment base in world drug trade. This is also helped by the fact that traditional drug transit routes from countries of the "Golden Triangle" (Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) and the "Golden Crescent" (Southeast Asia), such as the so-called Balkan route, are beginning to be controlled successfully by law enforcement agencies. Map - Drug Routes As far as the distribution of drugs within Russia is concerned, it is primarily emigres from Azerbaijan who play and will play the main role here. In virtually all major industrial cities, including in Siberia, and in the Far East, there are groups well organized according to the community principle that are engaged in the distribution of drugs. On the other hand, an active transit of drugs is being accomplished from Afghanistan through Tajikistan, and it is not likely that this avenue will be taken under strict control in the next few years. Drugs will be transported across the border not over exotic, secret paths, but through central international airports under the guise of respectable goods produced under the roof of joint ventures and even state structures. Zones of special activeness of the "shuttles" are the extreme west (Lithuania, Latvia, Kaliningrad Oblast) and the extreme east (Sakhalin, Primorye). In time, the "southern hub" in the republics of the former Soviet Central Asia will increasingly make its |
FBIS3-60127_5 | Army, Police Stage Pilot Antidrug Operation in Rio | been foreseen by the formulators of military strategies. The document predicted that "at the start of the coming century," a "contingent of dropouts, criminals, and even murderers" would be harassing the state police forces to such an extent that the latter would "ask the Armed Forces to help by taking over the tough task of confronting that horde of outlaws, neutralizing them, and even destroying them so that law and order can be maintained." Although total disorder was not expected until the year 2000, members of the Army High Command began in mid-1992 to draw up a plan for occupying Rio de Janeiro's shantytowns, calling it Operation "Diamond." The plan was even tested in brief and secret exercises conducted in cooperation with the Military Police, but the possibility of its actually being put into effect was repeatedly denied by military authorities. But in October, Operation "Diamond" did indeed take effect. Without any fanfare, the Army has stopped drug trafficking in the Roquete Pinto shantytown, and its action may be extended to other localities. The Armed Forces have their sights set chiefly on Borel Hill, whereas the Military Police would prefer to have military help in Vigario Geral and Parada de Lucas. Although the commanding officer of the 24th Armored Infantry Battalion declines to discuss the Army's situation in the Roquete Pinto shantytown, the unit's deputy commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Themistocles Leao Filho, has written an article on the subject for the next issue of OMBRO A OMBRO, a newspaper aimed at military readers. In his article, Leao criticizes officers who supported more vigorous action in the shantytown after the traffickers fired at the barracks. "Some comrades have been heaping severe criticism on us for not sending in armored units and firing away until not one stone was left on top of another," the lieutenant colonel comments. "Once again, without getting carried away and without heroics or insane actions, the mission was accomplished and is being accomplished," he says. "Since that time, we have been in the shantytown registering people, supporting them, and patrolling the area." Unconcerned with the ESG's strategic theories, the residents of Roquete Pinto are again experiencing peace. The soccer fields once used by rival gangs of traffickers are again being visited regularly by children. The troops no longer frighten anyone--quite the contrary. The soldiers are winning fans in the shantytown. "They are cute," says Marcia Ribeiro, 16. |
FBIS3-60141_0 | PGR Faults Judges for Trafficker's Releases | Language: Spanish Article Type:CSO [Text] Mexico City, D.F., 22 December (SUN)--The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic [PGR] held a judge and a magistrate responsible for the release, three years ago, of the presumed drug trafficker, Amado Carrillo Fuentes. It claimed that he was freed even though the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office had sufficient evidence to charge him with crimes against health, and those of collecting and carrying firearms without a license. In an official communique, the PGR explained that, during 1990, it "never approved the release of Amado Carrillo; but, on the contrary, constantly objected to the judicial decisions that benefited him." The magistrate cited in the document is Gilberto Chavez Pliego, of the third unified court of the first circuit; and the judge was the head of the 10th district court of criminal proceedings. The document reveals that the PGR is currently intensifying its investigations to reinforce the indictment against the presumed drug trafficker. It was executed on 20 November, when the public prosecutor's office requested an arrest warrant for him, based on the crimes of collecting arms, storing cartridges and explosive ammunition, and criminal association. The PGR states that, in August 1989, Carrillo Fuentes was captured with three other persons in Guadalajara and taken to Mexico City. He was presumed guilty of crimes against health, providing funds for the purchase of drugs, collecting weapons, and carrying a firearm without a license, as specified in preliminary investigation 3755-D-89. Removing Drugs From Mexico He was held for trial on 27 August 1989 in the 10th district court of criminal proceedings. The trial was initiated for his presumed authorization of a fleet of air taxis for removing drugs from Mexico. Three days later, an order was issued for his formal imprisonment. The department indicates that he appealed to the third unified court of the first circuit, as recorded in docket 418-89-III-E. On 9 April 1990, Magistrate Gilberto Chavez Pliego ordered his release "for lack of evidence supporting an indictment, benefiting all those accused of crimes against health and criminal association." The PGR notes that, consequently, on 10 April 1990, Carrillo Fuentes petitioned the judge for his provisional release, which was granted with bail of 10 million old pesos. On 12 June of that year, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office reported its accusatory findings regarding his presumed guilt of the crime of arms collection. Nevertheless, the same judge issued |
FBIS3-60142_1 | PJF Seizures of Hashish, Cocaine, Ephedrine Detailed | heavy-caliber firearms, over 1,000 cartridges, and 32 automotive vehicles equipped for transporting drugs. According to the briefing reports sent to the Federal Judicial Police [PJF] General Directorate, headed by Commander Adrian Carrera Fuentes, the most significant operation took place in the warehouses of a transportation company on the border in Tijuana, Baja California. There, the police found two plastic drums holding 35 liters of hashish resin, a highly toxic drug. Upon his arrival to pick up the drug shipment, Agustin Corrantes Sanchez, who was loading the drug containers onto his pickup truck, was arrested by federal agents. With information he provided, the federal prosecutor's office ordered the arrest of his boss, who answers to the name of Jorge Abraham Zazueta Felix. Both subjects claimed that it was only a shipment of anti-oxidant used in the manufacture of lard. According to experts on the subject, to obtain hashish a ton of marijuana is required for each liter of the toxic substance. This means that at least 35 tons of cannabis indica were used to produce the 35 liters confiscated. Moreover, on the site known as "La Escondida," in Arramberi, Nuevo Leon, the Federal Judicial Police and municipal police seized two tons and 367 kg of dried and packed marijuana, bound for the border at Reynosa, Tamaulipas. From there, it was intended to be shipped to the United States. Arrested in the operation were the presumed drug dealers, Silvano Aguilar Colin and Filomeno Ruiz Martinez, who had concealed the drugs in the false bottom of a truck body. [passage omitted] The PGR agency in Nayarit, for its part, announced the arrest of Peregrin Villagomez Bazan and Luis Alberto Gamez Hernandez in the vicinity of Ixtlan del Rio. They were carrying 182 kg of very high quality cocaine in five suitcases stored in the trunk of a sedan type vehicle. In Quintana Roo, PJF personnel discovered 21 kg of the same alkaloid scattered on the Cancun beaches at a site known as Caleta de Manati. Presumably dropped by an airplane, the drugs were intended to wait for pickup by the fliers' accomplices, who would sell them. The department's agency in Baja California, for its part, reported the seizure of 234 kg of the chemical precursor known as ephedrine. It was detected underneath the seats on a passenger bus driven by Jose Manuel Moctezuma Torres, Ramon Rosales Fernandez, and Gabriel Garcia Linares. [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-60148_0 | 100 Kg of Ephedrine, 679 Kg of Marijuana Seized From Tomato Shipment | Language: Spanish Article Type:CSO [Article by Rocio Galvan] [Text] Tijuana, Baja California, 21 December--A shipment of 100 kg of ephedrine, a basic compound for processing the cocaine derivative known as "crack," was seized, together with 679 kg of marijuana. They were being transported on two trucks apparently loaded with tomatoes. This announcement was made here today by Rafael Aguilera Carrillo, the commander of the Federal Highway and Ports Police (PFCyP) in Ensenada. He claimed that this discovery alerted federal authorities to the possible existence of laboratories specializing in the processing of the alkaloid, addiction to which can prove fatal to a person within five months. Interviewed at the Tijuana airport, the police chief explained that the members of this force's patrol 33,403 discovered the shipment when they responded to an automobile accident reported on the San Vicente-San Quintin section of the federal highway leading from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas. He added that they spotted the two trucks and, after noticing that the vehicles' drivers were visibly nervous, began inspecting them. He indicated that the federal agents found the 100 kg of ephedrine and 679 kg of marijuana under the loads of tomatoes in the center of the vehicles. In conclusion, he reported the arrest of Gerardo Montoya Villaman and Alberto David Rodriguez Leon, who were driving the trucks loaded with drugs to Tijuana, intending to smuggle them into the United States. |
FBIS3-60158_1 | Editorial Calls for `Official Explanation' of DEA Presence, Activities | the Vienna Convention, the host country grants immunity to representatives of the governments with whom it maintains relations. The Vienna Convention establishes that it is not necessary for an embassy to inform a host government on the functions of its embassy personnel because it is understood that their activities will be strictly restricted to diplomatic norms. There is a clear contradiction, however, between the work done by the DEA agents and these norms which are being ignored by both the DEA and the rest of the U.S. embassy members, who on more than on one occasion have openly intervened in internal Bolivian affairs. The main subject that interests us--that is, the "safe houses" that the DEA keeps in several Bolivian cities where alleged drug traffickers are questioned--deserves official explanation. Claiming that the national police do not merit confidence because connections have been found between some officers and drug traffickers does not justify a third party carrying out the duties of the Bolivian State. Both the district prosecutor and the Human Rights Assembly of Santa Cruz have said that these agents ignore Bolivian laws and their actions are not controlled by our national authorities who have limited themselves to say: "There is no smoke without fire." What is worse, the DEA chief refuses to receive a national deputy in his office to discuss the charges. We must recall that this is not the first time that this kind of irregular procedures by the DEA has been made public. During the last administration, former Interior Minister Carlos Saavedra Bruno was very concerned about charges that were made and he said he would ask the U.S. Embassy for a report on the activities of these "diplomats." The subject was not discussed again, however, because of the election campaign flurry. But the fact that the issue has again come to the limelight shows that it cannot be controlled by our authorities. And this cannot be so. Following the announcement that the new U.S. drug enforcement policy has ruled out the militarization of the issue and efforts will be concentrated on police interdiction--which certainly is good news--it is necessary to establish clear rules that must be respected by any kind of foreign "advisers" in this field. Beside preserving our national sovereignty on such a sensitive subject, the establishment of an agreement will help the two countries to maintain relations in an atmosphere of mutual respect. |
FBIS3-60181_0 | Survey Notes Drug Consumption Among Youth | Article Type:BFN [Editorial Report] Montevideo EL OBSERVADOR ECONOMICO in Spanish on 14 January publishes on page 25 an unattributed 500-word article on the results of a study on drug consumption among youngsters. The article says that a study released by the National Board for the Prevention of the Illegal Traffic and Excessive Use of Drugs conducted in April 1993 reports that "8 percent of the economically active population between 15 and 29 years of age consume marijuana regularly, another 2 percent are addicted to cocaine, and 10 percent are alcoholic." The article also points out that a high percentage of teachers and professors regularly consume pharmaceutical drugs. The article notes that the National Board points out that "20 percent of the youngsters questioned said they had been offered marijuana, and 7 percent said they had been offered cocaine." The article concludes by saying that the National Board has been created to coordinate the work of several ministries and to propose policies. |
FBIS3-60191_0 | 38 Kg of Marijuana Seized, Two Arrested | Language: Thai Article Type:CSO [Text] At 0200 hours on 6 December 1993, Police Lieutenant Colonel Samphan Inthai, the commander of Border Patrol Police [BPP] Company 226 in Phibun Mangsahan District, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Police Captain Sakda Tochongmon, the deputy company commander, and Police 2d Lieutenant Singkhon Samakkhun, the commander of "CK" Company 225, set up a checkpoint near the headquarters of the Huai Tat Ton Forest Preserve Unit along the Ban Woembuk Nikhom 2 highway. A blue Datsun sedan, license No 2K-4255 Bangkok, stopped at the checkpoint. The people in the car looked suspicious and so the officials conducted a search. They found 38 sticks of dried marijuana wrapped in newspaper and clear plastic. Each stick weighed 1 kg for a total of 38 kg. The marijuana had been packed in a sea bag and concealed in the rear seat. The suspects were identified as Mr. Chanti Songsoem, age 30, who lives at 67/1 Sisaket Road, Warin Chamrap Subdistrict, Warin Chamrap District, Ubon Ratchathani Province, and Mr. Sanit Bunchak, age 36, who lives at 43 Thetsaban 58 Road, Warin Chamrap District, Ubon Ratchathani Province. During interrogation, the two suspects said that Sergeant Chatchawan, surname unknown, had hired them to transport marijuana at 1,000 baht per kg. They had already made four trips. They had purchased the marijuana in Chong Chiam District at a cost of 500 baht per kg. The suspects were taken and turned over to Police 1st Lieutenant Wanchai Ruangsi, the duty officer at the provincial police station in Sirinthon District, for further handling of the case. |
FBIS3-60213_0 | Motorists Driving Under Influence of Drugs Prompts Concern | Language: English Article Type:CSO [Unattributed article: "Cannabis Found in 10 Percent of Driver Samples"] [Text] Traces of cannabis were found in blood tests taken from almost 10 percent of drivers stopped by Reykjavik police on suspicion of drunk driving during the second half of 1992 and the first six months of 1993. This was revealed recently at a press conference held by the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Iceland, where during the period in question, 200 samples were tested; 19 contained traces of the drug and 171 showed an alcohol content below the legal limit of 0.5 percent. As the research team, headed by Professor Thorkell Johannesson and operating in close cooperation with the police forces with the Reykjavik conurbation and the Traffic Safety Council, was originally concerned only with alcohol levels, 17 of the first 171 drivers tested who later proved to have traces of cannabis in their blood will not now have to face prosecution. Since cannabis is a banned substance in Iceland and its possession and use punishable by law, no special provision is made in the road traffic laws regarding driving under the influence. Technically, therefore, anyone convicted of doing so does not run the risk of losing his license. Each year from 2,000 to 4,000 drivers are stopped by police on suspicion of drunk driving, and it is estimated that alcohol is involved in some 50 accidents every year, with drivers under the legal limit in 10 percent of those cases. This latter group has received particular attention from the team. Speaking to national media, Johannesson and Reykjavik Police Chief Bodvar Bragson said there was now an urgent need to investigate the presence of other drugs, particularly amphetamine, in blood samples taken from drivers. |
FBIS3-60218_1 | Country Described as `Middle' for Drug Trafficking Routes | to Europe. The opium produced in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, which are known as the Golden Crescent countries, is transported through Turkey to Europe, either through highways or sea ports. The production of narcotic substances significantly increased in the region after the Soviet Union collapsed. For example, the production of narcotic drugs increased by 10 times in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the effort made to place the production of narcotic substances under control in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan, which became independent republics after the Soviet Union disintegrated, has not been successful. Nearly three-quarters of the narcotic drugs used in Western Europe come from the Golden Crescent countries and Central Asia. The narcotic substances produced in the Golden Crescent countries and Central Asia are smuggled into Turkey in three ways. The first is the route from southern Afghanistan, which crosses through Iran and reaches Turkey. The drug traffickers also use the authority vacuum in northern Iraq as an opportunity to smuggle their narcotic substances into Turkey. The second route is the sea ports. Narcotic drugs are transported from the Golden Crescent countries to Karachi in Pakistan. They are then loaded on ships that carry them to the Mediterranean Sea through the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal. The vessel Lucky-S was placed under custody in the Mediterranean Sea for carrying narcotic drugs in 1993. The narcotic substances were loaded on the vessel in Karachi. Officials impounded 14 tonnes of narcotic drugs on the Lucky-S. The vessel Kismetim-1 also picked up a cargo of narcotic drugs in Pakistan in 1993. The crew members reportedly sank that vessel to prevent the police from impounding its cargo. The third route through Turkey is from the Caucasus, a region that has been troubled by internal unrest since the Soviet Union collapsed. Narcotic substances are transported from the Golden Crescent countries to the Caspian Sea through Turkmenistan. From there, they are transported to Azerbaijan and Georgia either in ships or in vehicles, which use the highways to the north of the Caspian Sea. The internal confusion in Azerbaijan and Georgia facilitates the activities of the drug traffickers in that region. The narcotic drugs, which are smuggled into Turkey in ships or TIR [Transit Highway International] trucks, are later transported to Western Europe either in similar trucks, which cross through the Balkan countries, or in ships, which call at several ports in the Mediterranean Sea. |
FBIS3-60220_1 | Papers Give Results of Drug-Use Surveys Heavier Users Wealthy | in Nottingham, Bradford, Lewisham, south London, and Glasgow, estimates that about one in five people in Britain has taken an illegal drug during his life, with much higher levels of drug-taking among people aged between 16 and 25. One in 15 had recently used an illegal drug. Between 14 and 24 per cent of people questioned admitted using an illegal drug at some time in their life and between 5 and 9 per cent confessed to recent usage. Among the 250 people aged between 16 and 25 who were surveyed, those who had taken drugs ranged from 32 per cent in Bradford to 52 per cent in Glasgow. Between 16 and 35 per cent admitted taking drugs within the past year. Its findings counter previous studies that have emphasised drug usage among lower economic groups, upon whom many government and local authority drug prevention initiatives are focused. The survey said: "With regard to lifetime drug usage, the wealthier respondents in the AB and CI socio-economic groups proved to the most prominent users. The most prevalent drug users in the general population are likely to be young, white males in those groups." Cannabis usage was found to be prominent among those from the higher echelons of society but the study revealed that in two sample areas--Lewisham and Nottingham--amphetamines, amylnitrate and magic mushrooms were also widely used. This trend was confirmed in other areas such as Glasgow and Bradford in West Yorkshire. While the upper and middle classes were prominent users of cannabis, the study found that heroin and crack were used more by the low-status groups, with injected drugs more common among the C2s and DEs. "The final picture, in terms of patterns of drug taking, is one in which, in these four cities, a substantial minority of young people made mostly occasional use of cannibis and, to a lesser extent, other drugs," the survey said. The study found that local availability of drugs was so good that any restriction on drug usage was governed by personal choice rather than controlling supplies. Most people said they had little difficulty obtaining drugs when they wanted. More men than women admitted to having ever taken a drug that was illegal, but the gap narrowed in the 16 to 25 age range with 45 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women admitting to having taken such drugs. TIMES NEWSPAPERS LIMITED, 1993 |
FBIS3-60221_0 | Papers Give Results of Drug-Use Surveys Spreading to Countryside | Language: English Article Type:CSO [Article by Hugh Muir] [Text] Rural teenagers are now as steeped in the drugs culture as their urban counterparts, according to a Home Office-backed study. New research conducted in East Sussex indicates that the level of knowledge displayed by young people in the country is generally comparable to those in provincial towns. The finding comes two months after Government statistics revealed that the biggest increases in drug offences are now taking place in rural areas. Researchers surveyed 26 secondary schools in urban parts of East Sussex and the rural district of North Wealden. They found that the majority of schoolchildren claimed never to have tried drugs. But three quarters of the teenagers said they knew someone who used cannabis, ecstasy or amphetamines. A third said they had been offered those drugs and of those, two thirds had tried either cannabis, amphetamines, solvents and hallucinogenic substances. Boys were more likely to be offered drugs and most often agreed to take them. Researchers assessed the level of drug use among East Sussex 14 and 15-year-olds as 20-23 per cent. The level for North Wealden was 17-23 per cent. They concluded the level of "drug involvement" for the East Sussex teenagers was lower than the same age group in the large inner cities. But they said they are "generally higher than those found in samples in comparable areas elsewhere in the country." |
FBIS3-60230_0 | Power Industry To Focus on Reducing Pollution | Language: English Article Type:BFN [By Chang Weimin: "State Vows To Reduce Pollution"] [Text] China's power industry is to concentrate on the development of resources that produce less pollution than coal-fired generators. Efforts to tap hydro and wind resources will be encouraged, according to an official from the Ministry of Power Industry. In 2000, hydropower generating capacity will account for 26 percent of the country's total, compared with 24 percent at present. That means hydropower generating capacity will climb to 75 to 80 million kilowatts that year. The capacity at the end of 1992 stood at 40.7 million kilowatts. The industry expects to increase its power generating capacity to 310 million kilowatts in 2000 from the present 170 million kilowatts. The majority of electricity in China is generated by coal-fired power plants, which emit minute sulphur particles that contaminate the environment. But several hydropower stations, with capacity totalling 20 million kilowatts, are under construction. Of them, a group capable of producing 9 million kilowatts were kicked off this year. Jiang Shaojun, the ministry's spokesman, predicted 148 billion kilowatt-hours would be generated by hydropower stations this year, compared with 134.5 billion in 1992. Development of other energy sources, such as wind power, is also to be pushed forward, Jiang said. The industry will strive to gain a capacity of 1 million kilowatts by using wind power. In windy North China, especially the country's north western provinces and autonomous regions, wind generators are common. In the meantime, the industry will make major measures to reduce pollution from thermal power plants. The measures are significant as coal-firing plants will remain the mainstay of the industry for the rest of the century. Installing waste-recycling systems in old power stations is very expensive. But new thermal plants will be designed to reduce or eliminate pollution. However, the official admitted that as a developing nation, China needs time to reach anti-pollution standards set by the Western nations. The industry has made special efforts to raise the standards. The industry has begun co-operation with the Japanese Government to treat sulphur-rich coal and smoke from coal-fired thermal power plants. The industry will use funds from the Japanese Government for several projects. Two sulphur treatment projects are under way in Huangdao, Shandong Province, and Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. As for the nuclear power sector, another official from the ministry said several new plants are under consideration. "We attach strict anti-radiation standards |
FBIS3-60230_1 | Power Industry To Focus on Reducing Pollution | 40.7 million kilowatts. The industry expects to increase its power generating capacity to 310 million kilowatts in 2000 from the present 170 million kilowatts. The majority of electricity in China is generated by coal-fired power plants, which emit minute sulphur particles that contaminate the environment. But several hydropower stations, with capacity totalling 20 million kilowatts, are under construction. Of them, a group capable of producing 9 million kilowatts were kicked off this year. Jiang Shaojun, the ministry's spokesman, predicted 148 billion kilowatt-hours would be generated by hydropower stations this year, compared with 134.5 billion in 1992. Development of other energy sources, such as wind power, is also to be pushed forward, Jiang said. The industry will strive to gain a capacity of 1 million kilowatts by using wind power. In windy North China, especially the country's north western provinces and autonomous regions, wind generators are common. In the meantime, the industry will make major measures to reduce pollution from thermal power plants. The measures are significant as coal-firing plants will remain the mainstay of the industry for the rest of the century. Installing waste-recycling systems in old power stations is very expensive. But new thermal plants will be designed to reduce or eliminate pollution. However, the official admitted that as a developing nation, China needs time to reach anti-pollution standards set by the Western nations. The industry has made special efforts to raise the standards. The industry has begun co-operation with the Japanese Government to treat sulphur-rich coal and smoke from coal-fired thermal power plants. The industry will use funds from the Japanese Government for several projects. Two sulphur treatment projects are under way in Huangdao, Shandong Province, and Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. As for the nuclear power sector, another official from the ministry said several new plants are under consideration. "We attach strict anti-radiation standards to our nuclear plants," the official said. China has two nuclear power stations, one in Zhejiang Province that is already in operation and the other in Guangdong Province that is to go into operation this year. Capacity of the two stations totals 2.1 million kilowatts. No other nuclear power plants are likely to go into operation until after 2000. However, construction of at least three could be kicked off before the end of the century, the official said. China, where nuclear power generation is in its beginning phase, is seeking moderate development in this sector. |
FBIS3-60240_0 | `Enlightened' Timber Industry Seeks Environmentally Conscious Investors | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Rangoon, Dec 24 (AFP) -- The Burmese timber industry, the country's leading foreign exchange earner, is actively courting foreign investors while promoting sound ecological principles. And its forestry conservation practices have enabled the government to reap rare accolades from a Western world which was outspoken in its criticism of the military junta's takeover after public demonstrations five years ago. "Burma gets a bum rap" on logging practices, an otherwise- critical foreign observer commented. "The government is repressive, but its conservation policies are enlightened," a Western diplomat said. With about 75 percent of the world's teak reserves and a large quantity of other hardwoods, Rangoon has invited up to 100 percent foreign investment in everything from sawmills to furniture factories to gain sorely-needed funds for development. It intends, however, to maintain strict control of logging operations in order to preserve its forest resources for the future, officials stressed in recent interviews here. About half the country is covered in forests, and officials said that so far only three million cubic meters (105 million cubic yards) of wood had been cut, compared to 40 million cubic meters (1,400 cubic yards) in Malaysia, which is half the size of Burma. Before neighboring Thailand banned logging on its own territory in 1988, it had almost halved its forest cover. When Rangoon called a halt early last year to allegedly abusive Thai logging in concessions along the border, it adjusted its income targets accordingly, planning a 6.9 percent GDP drop in the forestry sector. In the 1994-95 fiscal year, starting April 1, it hopes to see a new rise in income as investors from places such as Sweden and Thailand come on stream with renovations to local hardwood furniture factories. But would-be foreign investors are mainly looking for big profits and a quick return, instead of taking a longer view, officials of the Forestry Department and the state-run Myanmar Timber Enterprise complained. They said they need equipment--including tractors, skidders and road-building machinery to help speed up extraction and delivery to the investors--as well as marketing and technology knowhow. From the felling of a tree to the factory can take up to two years. "The faster we can do it, the faster we can produce downstream products," one official said. But all officials, including Forestry Minister Lieutenant General Chit Swe, stressed that Burma's future resources would not be sacrificed. Interviewed surrounded |
FBIS3-60245_0 | Report Claims Success for Restrictions on Toxic Paint | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Tokyo, Dec 15 KYODO -- A government report on toxic chemical residues in the environment in 1992 claims the Environment Agency's restrictions on use of toxic tin compounds in paint on boat keels are beginning to have an effect. The compounds are blamed for contaminating marine life. The report, submitted to a subcommittee on chemical substances within the agency's central council for environmental pollution control, said there has been a slight improvement in the level of contamination from the compounds in the two years since the introduction of the restrictions. But the report also said contamination from toxic substances, including polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and dioxins, though at low levels, is still continuing. In a survey of 17 potentially harmful substances, eight, including the herbicide simetryn, were found in water and fish. The substances are only mildly toxic and were detected in small amounts, but the report said more investigation is required since simetryn is reportedly capable of affecting marine plants at even low concentrations. The report also said PCB was detected in 37 of 72 samples of sea bass and other fish taken from Tokyo bay and other parts of the country. Dioxins, some known for their high toxicity, were present in silt at the bottom of Tokyo, Ise, and Osaka bays. The densities and frequency of occurrence were the same as in 1991. A spokesman for the agency said they are unlikely to have an impact on humans, but noted that there is a need to assess the distribution because of the apparently wide area in which they are found. |
FBIS3-60248_0 | Fishery Agency To Probe Global Warming in North Pacific | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Tokyo, Jan 6 KYODO -- Japan will dispatch a research ship to the North Pacific on a one-month mission to investigate the cause of the global warming phenomenon, the Fishery Agency said Thursday [6 January]. The 2,000-ton Kaiyo Maru will set out Friday on the mission that is part of a 42-nation, 10-year project, known as the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), the agency said. The WOCE was launched in 1990 as a multilateral project to counteract the threat from global warming, which some scientists warn could make the earth uninhabitable for living creatures in the long run. The scientists warn the burning of oil and other fossil fuels would boost the average temperature of the atmosphere by trapping heat from the earth's surface with an increasing density of carbon dioxide that prevents the dissipation of heat into space. Under the WOCE, Japan is entrusted with investigating global warming in five broad areas. This year, Japan will probe the phenomenon at 70 locations along the line of 30 degree latitude in a broad area of the North Pacific between the Japanese archipelago and the west coast of the United States. The ship will measure the density of carbon dioxide and salinity and the temperatures of seawater at these 70 sites at intervals of 50 to 70 kilometers, the agency said. On top of the research related to the global warming, the ship will investigate the living environment of tuna and other migratory fish at 90 locations to help assess the future conditions of fishery resources, it added. |
FBIS3-60272_2 | Indigenous Group Concerned About Lake Contamination | national production. During 1991, the atherine production amounted to 2,600 tons. In 1992, 90 percent of the fishing fauna disappeared, and in 1993 there is nothing to fish for, as the indigenous leader explained. He said that this proved to be a difficult situation of those living in the Murato settlements. The indigenous residents feed themselves with wild ducks from the area but, owing to the water's salinity, they too are becoming extinct. This prompts the prediction that there will soon be total famine. Currently engaged in raising Aymara sheep, the Uru Muratos are hoping to obtain a small territory in which to devote themselves to farming. The situation being experienced in the settlements of Punaca, Tinta Maria, Llapallapani, and Willaneque is tragic, because the inactivity caused by the reduction in Lake Poopo's water level and the lack of fish is causing massive migration. This has left the communities as ghost towns, and the schools that existed have been closed. They are waiting for attention from the national authorities to alleviate this situation, which is now added to the poverty and misery of those who have sustained the fishing activity for centuries. Rehabilitation To achieve the rehabilitation of Lake Poopo, consideration was given to a study made in 1985, warning of the lake's contamination with heavy metals. The study, conducted by Great Britain's Overseas Development Administration (ODA), announced the results of the chemical and spectrophotometric analyses of samples of water, plants, sediments, and fish from the Poopo Basin. The analyses have made it possible to establish the fact that this lake was highly saline (in 1985), particularly in the south, where the salinity exceeded 70 percent. These figures are higher than those recorded at Lake Moon, California, one of the best documented saline lakes. The evidence from all the water, plant, silt, and fish samples indicates that there are extraordinarily high concentrations of all metals in the Poopo Basin. According to the study, the concentration of dissolved metals in the lake comes from the largest deposits in central Bolivia, such as the Poopo, Monserrat, Avicaya, and Huanuni mines, located no farther than 20 km from the lake. The strongest evidence of contamination comes from the San Juan Sora Sora River, containing high concentrations of a wide range of metals. It is known that the levels of many metals are toxic for fish, and levels exceeding those permitted have been recorded. |
FBIS3-60280_0 | Multilateral Talks Agreement on Agricultural Projects | Language: Arabic Article Type:BFN [Excerpt] Cairo, 15 Dec (MENA)--A working group formed by the Middle East Multilateral Talks Economic Development Committee ended its meetings in Cairo today. It approved several projects that will be implemented in cooperation with the EC and Middle Eastern countries. The Cairo meeting is the first of several planned by the Economic Development Committee during its meeting in Copenhagen on 8 and 9 November. A program called the Copenhagen Work Program was drawn up then. The agreement reached today provides for four agricultural projects to be implemented with the cooperation of Egypt, the occupied territories, Israel, and Jordan. Agreement was also reached to implement a project involving cleaning up pollution in the Gulf of Aqaba and preserving marine life and coral. This project will be carried out with the help of the gulf's littoral countries. Agreement was also reached to carry out a joint tourism project involving Egypt, Israel, and the occupied territories. Dr 'Adil al-Biltaji, chairman of the board of directors of the Egyptian Agricultural Research Center and Egypt's representative at the meeting, told MENA that agreement was reached to establish four networks through which expertise and data will be exchanged with the aim of promoting research in various spheres. Dr. al-Biltaji explained that the first sphere is connected with natural resources, notably desert plants, and ways of protecting them. He said each regional country will make efforts in one particular sphere and all the resulting information on available natural resources will be exchanged and coordinated. He said this project will be carried out through the joint efforts of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Turkey and in coordination with Italy. He added that the EC will provide financial backing for this $125-million project. Dr. al-Biltaji said the second project is connected with the effects insecticides have on the soil. The aim is to minimize the use of insecticides and prevent harm to people, plants, and natural resources like water. [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-60282_1 | Developing Countries' Export of CFCs Urged | Nath lays down his office as chairman of the bureau at the end of his one-year term today. Mr Kamal Nath said that the provisions of the protocol should be so amended that the early reduction of ODS did not become a disincentive. In fact, such efforts needed to be recognised and rewarded, rather than be allowed to become a punitive constraint in future. Expressing deep concern over the development of technology and its transfer, the minister suggested that the effort should be widened by roping into the process more scientific and technical institutions, particularly in the countries where the appropriate technologies were to be used. He pointed out that the denial of funds for research and technology development would amount to the protection of commercial interests of a few and not the environmental interests of all. Stressing the need of rigorous control over the demonstrable essential uses of halons, Mr Kamal Nath said that it must be borne in mind that many developing countries did not have access to the halon substitutes available to the developed countries. These realities must all receive due consideration, including when deciding upon the location of halon banks. The halon-producing developing countries should be involved in the development of halon banks, he said. Mr Kamal Nath cautioned that with the greater integration of the global economy and the on-going liberalisation process in several parts of the world, it should be ensured that ODS-using equipment that would become technologically obsolete, or the use of which was legally restricted, in the developed world was not dumped by unscrupulous elements onto projects in developing countries. Each country would have to evolve suitable mechanisms to ensure this. But simultaneously, while approving projects, the executive committee would also have to ensure that ODS-using equipment was suitably prevented from recirculation, he said. Reviewing with satisfaction the last one year's progress under his chairmanship, Mr Kamal Nath said a total of 122 countries had signed the protocol. The executive committee has so far approved 27 country programmes for phasing out ODS and sanctioned projects and activities worth a total of $200 million. India's country programme worth $2 billion was approved by the committee last week in Bangkok. The minister stressed the need for adequate and timely replenishment of the multilateral fund and requested that contributions to the full extent of the agreed target amount be made with a sense of urgency. |
FBIS3-60284_0 | Caspian Littoral States Urged To Coordinate Ecological Efforts | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by Vladimir Kuleshov: "The Aral's Fate for the Caspian?"] [Text] Ashgabat--O. Ovezgeldyyev, the author of the concept of a long-term program of research into the problems of the Caspian and well-known Turkmen academician, declares: "Unless an international center coordinating the actions of the Caspian countries to save the Caspian is formed in the very near future and unless these countries pool their scientific, economic, and legal forces to this end, we will simply lose it, like we lost the Aral." Having become a sump of industrial enterprises' toxic waste, the Caspian is today essentially suffocating from phenols, acids, alkalis, and organic substances. Scientists believe the overall volume of harmful effluent long since exceeded the annual flow of such rivers as the Ural, Terek, Kura, and Samur put together. Added to the grim ecological situation is concern that the constant rise in the sea level since 1978 continues. In the current situation immediate coordinated actions of the five states with an outlet to hoary Khazar--Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran--are required. We had become so accustomed to and comfortable with the practice of the wasteful use of natural resources that in unthinkingly and unhesitatingly having closed off by a sealed dike the Kara-Bogaz Bay and having thereby interrupted the natural process of accumulation of hydro-mineral raw material in the bay it did not even occur to us that we were thereby ruining a renewable source, most unique on a world scale, of chemical resources. With the closing off of the bay the natural balance in the region was disturbed for it was not just something but Kara-Bogaz-Gol, as the thermal regulator of the Caspian, which mainly stabilized the level of the sea. "Had Turkmenistan been able to comprehensively assimilate the unlost Kara-Bogaz-Gol," Academician O. Ovezgeldyyev says, "this would have been sufficient for putting together a fully balanced state budget. And no oil or gas would have been needed here since types of raw material that are much more efficient than hydrocarbons could have been recovered from the bay. Look, the Japanese are spending immense resources to recover minerals from the ocean. We in Kara-Bogaz-Gol, on the other hand, could get them practically free of charge...." Another well known scientist, A. Khodzhamamedov, president of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan and head of the Institute of Chemistry of the republic's Academy of Sciences, is insistently recommending to |
FBIS3-60285_0 | European Union's Research Projects in Chernobyl Region Viewed | Language: French Article Type:BFN [Article signed J.-P.D.: "Sixteen Research Projects In Cooperation With the European Union"] [Text] Many companies are already cooperating with the authorities in the Chernobyl region. A research center -- the CHERCIR [Chernobyl Center for International Research] -- has opened at the site under the aegis of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]. The European Union, which has been working there since 1990, decided to go further and in June 1992 signed an accord with Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Since 1991, Europe has invested a total of ECU14.2 million (Fr95 million) in order to finance 16 research projects. A laboratory is currently being set up in the exclusion zone and an office and housing facilities are available to researchers at Zeleny Mys, on the edge of the zone. Together with health problems, much of the work is devoted to mapping out the contaminated areas, modeling the transfer of radioactive nuclides from the soil to plant life and then to animals and man, the study of their migration in the soil and the water systems, decontamination tests, etc. The researchers certainly have their work cut out. At the time of the accident, the "liquidators" had other concerns than the long- term protection of the environment. Reactor waste, the earth removed from the most contaminated areas, and the trees from the "red forest" burned by radiation were all buried, high and low radioactive waste all mixed in together. A total of 24 sites with 840 pits or trenches containing waste have been identified in the exclusion zone (10 km around the nuclear plant), explains Boris Prister, first deputy to the Ukrainian minister responsible for Chernobyl: "Studies are being carried out to determine if this waste must be treated separately from or included in the new entombment project." In the meantime, readings have already shown a certain plutonium contamination (37 becquerels per liter) of the water circulating beneath the "red forest" burial sites. The ditches in this area which contain the waste have, however, been lined with clay -- unlike those at other sites. "I do not believe that there is an immediate danger, but serious problems could arise within 10 to 15 years," believes Jaak Sinnaeve, head of the "Research Actions for Radiological Protection" unit at the European Commission. "In any event," he adds, "there is an urgent need for a thorough inventory." For the moment, the river Pripyat, |
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