U.S. to Help Destroy Albanian Weapons

Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) has announced that Cooperative Threat Reduction funds--better known as Nunn-Lugar funds--will be used to help Albania destroy 16 tons of chemical agent. The destruction, estimated to cost about $20 million, is set to begin in 2005 and is expected to take two years. This is the first time Nunn-Lugar funds will be used outside the former Soviet Union. These funds originally were designated to help dispose of Soviet unconventional weapons, but last year Congress approved a measure that allows the President to spend up to $50 million to dispose of weapons outside the former U.S.S.R. Lugar's office said information on the contents and location of the Albanian stockpile is being withheld "to ensure operational security or prevent revealing to potential ... terrorists information that could endanger the stockpile." The U.S. has recently installed security fencing and monitoring equipment at the site. Swiss officials, who also have been involved in eliminating Albania's chemical weapons, have previously said the arsenal consisted of mustard agent and was located about 50 km outside the capital of Tirana.