U.S. officials stand by the allegations

  From Herald Staff and Wire Reports

  HAVANA - Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that U.S. officials who briefed him on his trip to Cuba before his visit here said they had no evidence that Cuba was transferring abroad technology that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction.

  Carter's comments, delivered as he sat next to President Fidel Castro at a gathering in Cuba's most prestigious biotech institute, were in direct contradiction to the
  remarks of a U.S. government official last week stating that Cuba is involved in the transfer of the potentially lethal technology to hostile nations.

  His remarks came on a day when he also held an unscheduled meeting with two leading political opponents of Castro's government, Elizardo Sánchez, of the Cuban
  Commission on Human Rights, and Oswaldo Payá, head of the Christian Liberation Movement.

  At a breakfast meeting with Carter, the two activists expressed concern over the conditions of human rights in Cuba and answered Carter's questions about an
  unprecedented petition drive known as the Varela Project that would force reforms to Cuba's socialist system.

  Carter had been expected to tour the biotechnology center that is at the center of the controversy with the Bush administration, but his comments came as a surprise. Couching his words ''with some degree of reluctance,'' Carter said he had been briefed by experts at the White House, the State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies.

  ''I asked them specifically on more than one occasion is there [were] any evidence that Cuba has been involved in sharing any information to any other country on Earth that could be used for terrorist purposes,'' Carter said.

  'And the answer from our experts on intelligence was `no,' '' Carter told invited guests and scientists at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

  ''These allegations were made, maybe not coincidentally, just before our visit to Cuba,'' Carter said of the Bush administration's charge that Cuba has at least a limited offensive biological-warfare research and development effort that has been provided to rogue nations.

  The allegations came from John Bolton, a Department of State undersecretary for arms control. In a May 6 speech, he said Washington has evidence that Cuba is
  providing dual-use technology -- that could be used either for peaceful purposes or for lethal weapons-production -- to hostile nations.

  REAFFIRM CHARGES

  State Department officials reaffirmed Bolton's charges Monday.

  ''We stand by the remarks,'' said James Carragher, coordinator for Cuban affairs. ``That is the view of experts within the U.S. government who know about this matter.

  ''The point of the speech was to note our concerns about those countries,'' on the State Department's list of sponsors of terrorism, he said. ``Some may draw a
  conclusion on timing, but that, at best, is a side show.''

  Otto Reich, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, told The Associated Press that Carter was not briefed on the weapons issue because the briefing took place before Bolton's speech, at which time the information was still classified.

  But Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking to reporters while traveling to a NATO meeting in Iceland, said that while the administration believes that Cuba has the ability to produce biological weapons, it stops short of claiming that it has actually done so.

  ''As Undersecretary Bolton said recently, we do believe Cuba has a biological offensive research capability,'' Powell said. ``We didn't say it actually had some weapons, but it has the capacity and capability to conduct such research.''

  Carter said he had been told explicitly by the Cubans that the technology posed no danger of being used as a weapon against U.S. interests.

  ''The understanding I have this morning is that there is no relationship at all between Cuba and Libya in this field, and that there is a standard contract prescribed by the international community that any technology shared would be restrained from any illicit use,'' he said.

  ''The relationship between Cuba and Iran in this respect is just in the initial stages and has not reached the point of technological development,'' Carter added. ``And my hope and my presumption is that Cuba will be very intensely concentrated upon enforcing that provision that would prevent any illicit or improper use of the technology which they share.''

  At the Cuban institute on the outskirts of Havana, Cuban scientists told Carter that their transfer contracts with other countries forbid the use of Cuban technology for purposes other than the lifesaving objectives for which they were designed.

  Answering a question from Carter, Dr. Luis Herrera insisted that Cuba monitors the use of technology transferred to other countries to ensure it is not used for terrorism.

  ''I just want to assure myself,'' said Carter, who was seated next to Castro during a presentation that lasted more than an hour.

  CASTRO'S RESPONSE

  Castro has denounced Bolton's allegation as blatant ``lies.''

  In a speech rebutting the claims, Castro said, Cuba's policy on weapons of mass destruction has been irreproachable.

  ''No one has ever produced a single piece of evidence that any program for developing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons has been set up in our country,'' Castro said.

  José de la Fuente, a Cuban scientist who was once served as director of the Cuban biotechnology center, said that between 30 and 50 of Cuba's scientific installations have sophisticated technology.

  He said, however, he would be hard-pressed to believe that any of these centers are involved with the development of biotechnological warfare.

  ''Bolton hasn't offered any proof,'' said de la Fuente, who defected in 1999 and is now at Oklahoma State University. ``A statement like that should be backed by
  evidence.''

  Scientists at the facilities have done groundbreaking research in recombinant genetic engineering, leading to a hepatitis B vaccine and a clot-busting drug, streptokinase, used against strokes.

  Herald staff writer Nancy San Martin contributed to this report.