23 February 2005
United States Seeks Continued Destruction of Nicaraguan Missiles
Shoulder-fired missiles a threat to commercial aircraft, State Dept says
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- A U.S. delegation is in Nicaragua to seek continued cooperation on that country's efforts to destroy its arsenal of shoulder-fired missiles, the State Department says.
At his regular news briefing February 22, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the purpose of the visit is to "review progress" by the United States and Nicaragua in destroying the missiles that could be used against commercial aircraft. Boucher said Nicaragua's President Enrique Bolanos assured the United States in 2003 that Nicaragua would destroy all of its man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) in order to reduce the chance they might fall into the hands of criminals and terrorists.
Since then, said Boucher, Nicaragua has destroyed some of the missiles with U.S. assistance.
Boucher said the visit by the U.S. delegation, headed by Rose Likins, the State Department's acting assistant secretary for political and military affairs, follows a recent sting operation by the Nicaraguan government in which it recovered one of the portable missiles that had reportedly fallen into the hands of criminals. According to Boucher, the delegation’s visit also follows a recent vote by the Nicaraguan National Assembly to mandate any further missile destruction must be approved by the Assembly.
The State Department spokesman said it remains the U.S. goal to ensure that future missile cooperation with Nicaragua remains on track, and to work with Nicaragua government "as it tries to fulfill its pledge."
Boucher said destroying the portable missiles has been a longstanding issue, "one that we have worked productively with the Nicaraguan government on." The U.S. delegation, also including officials from the U.S. Department of Defense, went to Nicaragua's capital of Managua "to renew contact with Nicaraguan officials on the matter," Boucher said.
He said the United States has been satisfied with "some of the efforts" the Nicaraguan government has made to destroy the portable missiles, and with the sting operation that helped identify "that there might be other" portable missiles that are unaccounted for.
But Boucher said that "obviously," the Nicaraguan National Assembly vote on portable missiles "creates difficulties" and is one of the reasons why the United States sent a team to Managua "to try to work with" the Nicaraguans, and to help make sure the Nicaraguan government "can fulfill the pledge that it made at very high levels."
Boucher on January 27 had congratulated Nicaragua for recovering one of the portable missiles during a criminal investigation that was aided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The State Department spokesman said then that the United States, through the State Department Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, would continue to work with the Nicaraguan government to help the Central American nation destroy its stockpile of portable missiles.
Boucher explained that the weapons-removal office at the State Department is responsible for obtaining foreign governments' cooperation in destroying their excess missiles and in securing these weapons against theft.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said during his November 2003 trip to Nicaragua that that nation's stockpile of the shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles did not have a role to play in Central America's current political climate. He added that the missiles did not provide security for Nicaragua, nor were they necessary for establishing the region's balance of forces.
Instead, Powell said, the missiles were a burden on the nation's military and a potential danger -- and should be entirely eliminated.
In 2004, Nicaragua destroyed more than 1,000 of its portable missiles -- about half of its original inventory of 2,000 missiles -- in a move that the United States said would prevent terrorists from attempting to shoot down civilian aircraft. The missiles had been obtained from the former Soviet Union during the 1980s.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=February&x=20050223155517AEneerG0.7293512&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
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