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Pacific weapons hunt drill begins

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  • Pacific weapons hunt drill begins

    Pacific weapons hunt drill begins

    The first international military exercise on intercepting shipments of weapons of mass destruction has begun in the Coral Sea off the north-east coast of Australia.
    Australian, American, French and Japanese forces are taking part in the first of a series of air, ground and sea exercises.

    The operation was planned by the 11-nation Proliferation Security Initiative, promoted by President George W Bush.

    The initiative was set up earlier this year to counter the suspected trade in chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and their components, as well as illegal drugs shipments.

    Members of the grouping insist it is not targeting specific countries, but correspondents say that Iran, Libya and North Korea are believed to be clearly within its sights.

    "The exercise began today and will be highlighted tonight when a US Navy cargo ship posing as a vessel suspected of carrying WMD-related materials is boarded from a Japanese coast guard vessel," said Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

    "The target ship, the US Navy maritime prepositioning ship Private Franklin Phillips, is currently being tracked in the practice exercise by military forces from the four countries," he added.

    The plan was for Japanese coastguards to board the suspect freighter with support from Australian, French and US forces.

    Tougher laws

    The United States suspects North Korea of exporting banned weapons as well as illegal drugs.

    Earlier this year Australian commandos boarded a North Korean ship near Sydney after a chase on the high seas.

    The Coral Sea drill comes as members of the Australian counter-terrorism committee meet to discuss tough new rules for shoppers to identify themselves when buying household items that could be used to make bombs.

    Australia has been on a heightened state of alert since the devastating Bali bombings almost a year ago.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3103386.stm
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