Homeland Security

11 January 2005 ? Four experts have been named to assist the work of the United Nations Security Council sanctions committee dealing with efforts to prevent such private parties as terrorists and black marketers from acquiring weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

The Council, in a letter from its President, took note of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's intention to appoint Volker Beck of Germany, Richard T. Cupitt of the United States, Roque Monteleone-Neto of Brazil and Victor S. Slipchenko of Russia to provide expert help.

The Council sanctions committee was set up under resolution 1540, which was adopted last April and calls on countries to adopt legislative and administrative regulations to deal with WMD proliferation and to report within six months on their efforts to execute the measure's requirements. The deadline for the first reports was at the end of October.

The resolution fell under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which gives the 15-member Council the power to enforce certain decisions through tribunals, embargoes or military force after all peaceful means of persuading delinquent Member States have been exhausted.