Russia's Putin Signs Law Punishing Theft Of Arms Of Mass Destruction

TERRORWARS

Russia's aging nuclear power plants are just one potential source for nuclear materials to go missing from. And while it would be nearly impossible to build a nuclear bomb from nuclear fuel used in power stations, it is possible to use such fuels to build a "dirty" bomb that could spread nuclear material as small airborne particles.

Moscow (AFP) May 9, 2002
Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday signed a law punishing by up to ten years of jail the theft of arms of mass destruction and nuclear material, amid concern that such material could be used by terrorists, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The theft of nuclear, chemical or other arms of mass destruction or of material allowing to produce them would be punished by a five to ten year jail sentence, the law said.

Failure to ensure that arms of mass destruction are safely guarded would be punished by a sentence of three to seven years.

The law signed Wednesday had been passed by Russian parliament in April.

Several senior US intelligence officials in February expressed alarm at the fact that weapons-grade nuclear material had been on several instances stolen from Russian facilities.

Their announcement came amid warnings by top US officials that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network had been making a concerted effort to obtain the know-how and materials to manufacture a crude nuclear or radiological device.

All rights reserved. � 2002 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

TERRORWARS

US Warns Trio Of Old Foes To Avoid WMD Proliferation

Washington (AFP) May 6, 2002
The United States Monday accused Cuba, Syria and Libya, three countries it deems to be sponsors of international terrorism, of seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction and effectively put them on a waiting list of the "axis of evil."

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.