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April 21, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Biotoxins Fall Into Private Hands"

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (04/21/03) P. A1; Warrick, Joby

The former commander of South Africa's 7th Medical Battalion, a group feared across the nation, told U.S. law enforcement officials in secret meetings last July about the medical experiments the battalion performed with chemical and biological weapons under the former apartheid government.  Wouter Basson, known as "Doctor Death," shocked the officials by revealing the country's attempts to purchase weapons of mass destruction and equipment with which it could be tested and distributed, as well as concepts for causing epidemics in black communities, such as cigarettes and letters laced with anthrax.  Even more worrisome, Basson told the U.S. government that he was unaware of where the microbes are presently, and strains of toxins that were said to be destroyed continue to surface in private hands--sparking concern among law enforcement groups that the government may have leaked some of the pathogens to terrorist or extremist groups.  Part of the problem is that information about the South African program, called Project Coast, has only arisen since 1998, though the country declared under reform-minded president Frederik W. de Clerk that all of the weapons had been destroyed as of 1993.  Over time, Project Coast developed 45 different strains of anthrax, the bacteria that cause cholera, brucellosis, and plague, and delivery systems like sugar cubes laced with salmonella, beer bottles and peppermint candles poisoned with pesticide, and the aforementioned cigarettes and envelopes laced with anthrax.  In 1997, it was discovered that not all of the items had been destroyed, and there were records located indicating that the group had sold some of its substances to outside organizations, one of which is suspected to be Libya, as Basson made at least five trips there during the 1990s.

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