Chemical weapons as much a threat as nuclear proliferation

OSAKA -- Chemical and biological weapons falling into the hands of individuals or small bands of terrorists is as much a threat as nuclear weapons being developed by rogue states, delegates at U.N. disarmament talks warned Wednesday.

Speaking on the second day of the four-day United Nations Conference on Disarmament, chemical and biological weapons experts said that since the breakup of the Soviet Union, accounting for the proliferation of such weapons has grown harder.

"Much of the attention in disarmament circles has been on preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons," said Huang Yu, a director at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. "But chemical and biological weapons are easy to assemble and much cheaper.