1. Title: Russian parliament concerned about US plans to develop new weapon  
2.  
3. Document Number: FBIS-SOV-2002-0808
4. Document Date: 08 Aug 2002
5. Division: Russia, North America
6. Subdivision: Russia, United States
7. Sourceline: CEP20020808000087 Moscow Interfax in English 1009 GMT 8 Aug 02
8. Citysource: Moscow Interfax
9. Language: English
10.  
11.  
12. [FBIS Transcribed Text]    MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) - The Russian State
13. Duma has expressed concern about the United States' program to develop a
14. qualitatively new type of weapon.
15.    "Under the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), the
16. U.S. is creating new integral geophysical weapons that may influence the
17. near-Earth medium with high-frequency radio waves," the State Duma said
18. in an appeal circulated on Thursday.
19.    "The significance of this qualitative leap could be compared to the
20. transition from cold steel to fire arms, or from conventional weapons to
21. nuclear weapons. This new type of weapons differs from previous types in
22. that the near-Earth medium becomes at once an object of direct influence
23. and its component.
24.    These conclusions were made by the commission of the State Duma's
25. international affairs and defense committees, the statement reads.
26.    The committees reported that the U.S. is planning to test three
27. facilities of this kind. One of them is located on the military testing
28. ground in Alaska and its full-scale tests are to begin in early 2003. The
29. second one is in Greenland and the third one in Norway.
30.    "When these facilities are launched into space from Norway, Alsaka and
31. Greenland, a closed contour will be created with a truly fantastic
32. integral potential for influencing the near-Earth medium," the State Duma
33. said.
34.    The U.S. plans to carry out large-scale scientific experiments, under
35. the HAARP program, and not controlled by the global community, will
36. create weapons capable of breaking radio communication lines and
37. equipment installed on spaceships and rockets, provoke serious accidents
38. in electricity networks and in oil and gas pipelines and have a negative
39. impact on the mental health of people populating entire regions, the
40. deputies said.
41.    They demanded that an international ban be put on such large-scale
42. geophysical experiments.
43.    The appeal, signed by 90 deputies, has been sent to President Vladimir
44. Putin, to the United Nations and other international organizations, to
45. the parliaments and leaders of the UN member countries, to the scientific
46. public and to mass media outlets.
47.    Among those who signed the appeal are Tatyana Astrakhankina, Nikolai
48. Kharitonov, Yegor Ligachev, Sergei Reshulsky, Vitaly Sevastyanov, Viktor
49. Cherepkov, Valentin Zorkaltsev and Alexei Mitrofanov.
50.  
51. [Description of Source: Moscow Interfax in English -- non-government
52. information agency known for its aggressive reporting, extensive economic
53. coverage, and good coverage of Russia's regions]