LOC13:50
10:50 GMT
GENEVA, Sept 9 (KUNA) -- The US and Swiss governments co-hosted an
International Bioterrorism Response Coordination Exercise (called "Black ICE
II") in Montreux, Switzerland, on September 7-8, the Swiss Foreign Minsitry
announced on Wednesday.
This two-day tabletop exercise was an opportunity for officials from
numerous international and regional organizations and national governments to
examine the critical cooperation and coordination issues that would be
necessary to respond to an international bioterrorism attack.
Black ICE II built on the lessons learned through the original Black ICE
exercise, also held in Montreux, in September 2006.
The exercise challenged participants with a fictional attack scenario
involving pneumonic plague. The scenario is not based on real-world threat
information and is not meant to indicate that this particular type of attack
is likely.
Rather, the scenario was designed to raise key questions exploring
coordination across borders and among a wide variety of national, regional and
international institutions. Coordinating efforts internationally across the
public health, security, transportation, and law enforcement sectors poses
significant challenges.
Through Black ICE II, participants examined these challenges and cooperated
in identifying capabilities, needs, and issues to be addressed in order to
ensure an effective international response to a potential bioterrorist attack.
Organizations attending Black ICE II were the Implementation Support Unit
for the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC ISU), the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Counter-Terrorism Committee of
the Organization of the American States (OAS), the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO), the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UN ODA), the World Food
Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Experts from India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Switzerland, and the
United States as well as from the European Commission and the European Council
Secretariat also participated in order to examine the interactions between
efforts taken at the national, regional and international levels. (end)
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