Report Urges U.S. Not to Back Weapon Treaty

A Bush administration review is recommending that the U.S. not support a draft agreement to enforce an international treaty banning biological weapons, a newspaper reported.

Quoting an unidentified senior official, the New York Times said an interagency team concluded that the current version of the protocol would be inefficient in stopping cheating, and that all its deficiencies could not be remedied by the negotiating deadline.

The paper said the proposal is bound to pose sensitive diplomatic problems and upset allies who back the draft accord and who believe the administration is focusing on new military programs at the expense of nonproliferation.