Syria, Libya & Cuba Added To Washington's 'Axis Of Evil' List

07/05/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Washington Has Evidence Three Countries Are out to Acquire Weapons of Mass Destruction||Russia's Nuclear Cooperation With Iran Top on Bush-Putin Summit Agenda Later in May||No Specific Threats of Military Action. ||STORY: The United States has expanded its original 3-country list of 'The Axis of Evil' accusing three more states -- Libya, Syria and Cuba -- of pursuing weapons of mass destruction and warned it would take action to ensure they do not supply terrorists with such arms.

The additions were made public in a speech entitled "Beyond the Axis of Evil," by Undersecretary of State John Bolton who said the three countries like those of the original list, Iraq, Iran and North Korea, are out to acquire weapons of mass destruction, particularly biological weapons. (Read photo caption)

Bolton, who oversees international security policy, told the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, in a reference to the Sept. 11 attacks that killed around 3,000 people that America was determined to prevent, what he called, the next wave of terror.

MISSING LINKS

Bolton made only scant mention in his speech of Russia and China, two nuclear powers whose alleged willingness to transfer nuclear, missile and other technology to Iran, Iraq and other states has long been a U.S. concern, prompting sanctions.

Russia's nuclear cooperation with Iran, a subject of Bolton's talks in Moscow last week, will be a "factor" in Bush's' summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in two weeks, Bolton said.

Bolton made no specific threats of military action, saying the United States would concentrate on exposing violators and working with other countries to halt proliferation.

PHOTO CAPTION

U.S. arms negotiator John Bolton will go back to Moscow for talks on the strategic arms cut agreement the United States and Russia want to complete in time for a summit in May, a spokesman for the State Department said April 26, 2002. Bolton, who is under secretary of state for arms control and international security, is seen at a three-week Review Conference of the 1972 Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BWC) in Geneva on November 19, 2001. (Jean-Marc Ferre/Reuters)