Ken Alibek started to find discrepancies in the KGB's information and began to have doubts. He felt his work was justified on these grounds. Ken Alibek's bosses told him that the Americans and British had not given up on biological weapons and were still engaged in their own offensive programmes. Dr Kanatjan Alibekov, or Ken Alibek as he is now known, was Chief Scientist at Biopreparat from 1987 to 1992. He revealed that the civilian pharmaceutical company Biopreparat, which the Soviets had established in 1973, was in fact a front for a massive offensive bio-weapons programme. Vladimir Pasechnik (who died in November 2001, aged 64) asserted that far from abandoning its bio-weapons programme, the Soviet Union had intensified it. ![]() In 1989, a senior Soviet bio-weapons scientist defected to the UK. The US believed initially that, like them, the Soviet Union had done away with its bio-weapons programme. In 1972, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union all signed up to the Biological Weapons Convention. In the wake of Nixon's historic abandonment of biological weapons, an international agreement was tabled outlawing their development and production. They retreated in chaos after burying their dead in mass graves. A few weeks later a major smallpox epidemic broke out in the American ranks, affecting about half of the 10,000 soldiers. But in December 1775, the British fort commander reportedly had civilians immunised against the disease and then deliberately sent out to infect the American troops. After capturing Montreal, it looked as if they might succeed. During the winter of 1775-76, American forces were attempting to free Quebec from British control. It has been alleged that smallpox was also used as a weapon during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). ![]() At the time of the Pontiac rebellion in 1763, Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America, wrote to Colonel Henry Bouquet: 'Could it not be contrived to send smallpox among these disaffected tribes of Indians? We must use every stratagem in our power to reduce them.' The colonel replied: 'I will try to inoculate the with some blankets that may fall in their hands, and take care not to get the disease myself.' Smallpox decimated the Native Americans, who had never been exposed to the disease before and had no immunity. Overstimulation of parasympathetic system effecting the peripheral and central nervous system, including: lacrimation, salivation, sweating, blurred vision, headache, difficulty in breathing and vomiting. In higher doses, nerve agents cause seizures, loss of body control, muscle paralysis (including heart and diaphragm) and unconsciousness.In the 18th century, the British fought France and its Indian allies for possession of what was to become Canada during the French and Indian Wars (1754-63). V-agents are extremely potent, with only milligrams needed to cause death, and persist for long periods of time in the environment.Ībsorption through lungs (G-series) contact with skin (VX) inhibits the AChe enzyme Other agents, such as soman and cyclosarin, persist longer and present a greater threat to the skin. Nerve agents are divided into two main groups: G-series agents and V-series agents, named for their military designations. Some G-agents, particularly tabun and sarin, persist in the environment for only short periods. They act primarily by absorption through the skin and lungs. Nerve agents are highly toxic with rapid effects. This causes the accumulation of a neurotransmitter between nerve cells or across synapses leading to hyper-stimulation of muscles, glands and other nerves. Nerve agents block an enzyme called Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the nervous system. There are two toxins explicitly listed in Schedule 1, these are ricin (produced in nature in the seeds of the castor bean plant) and saxitoxin (produced in nature by cyanobacteria). Moreover, a number of toxins are also synthetic dual-use chemicals, meaning that under the CWC they can be produced in the quantities required for legitimate activities. ![]() It is possible to synthesis many types of toxins in laboratories without harvesting the organisms that produce them in nature. ![]() Toxins are covered by the CWC because they are chemicals that can have chemical weapons applications, and fall under the definitions listed above for chemical weapons and toxic chemicals. Like the CWC, the BWC also requires States parties that possess toxin weapons to destroy them. The development, production and stockpiling of toxins for purposes of warfare are prohibited under both the CWC and Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). These are considered as both chemical and biological weapons when used in violation of the Convention. Toxins are toxic chemicals produced by living organisms.
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