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First, it was Iraq, very soon it may be Cuba

HAVANA - Even as it heads for a military confrontation with Iraq, the Bush administration is accusing Cuba of developing biological and chemical weapons-- a charge denied by the Cuban government.

John Bolton, US Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control, says that Cuba has "at least a limited offensive biological research and development capability".

A right-wing hawk in the Bush administration, Bolton wants international arms inspectors to go in search of weapons of mass destruction in Cuba.

The American vendetta against Cuba, which began with the overthrow of the pro-American Batista government by Fidel Castro in January 1959, has escalated to new heights under the Bush administration.

Accepting the US challenge, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque says that Cuba has absolutely no problem with opening the doors of its research centres to arms inspectors.

The State Department has designated Cuba and Iraq as "terrorist states". But both countries have shown a willingness to accept arms inspectors.

Last week a third "terrorist state" - North Korea - has openly defied the US by declaring its intention to develop nuclear weapons.

The US has refused to threaten North Korea with a "pre-emptive" military strike because it could provoke a "devastating counter-attack on Seoul".

North Korea remains a threat not only to the 37,000 American troops based in Seoul but also to Japan and South Korea, two staunch American allies.

North Korea's "nuclear brinkmanship" is attributed to an American "economic blockade" which Cuba has been subjected to over the last 42 years.

But both in the case of Iraq and Cuba, the US has so far failed to provide evidence to back its charges. The US says it cannot provide the evidence because it would compromise its intelligence sources, although much of the information is coming via satellite images.

Hans Blix, the chief UN arms inspector, says he can do a better job if the US and Britain provide him with the information they say they have-- but refuse to reveal.

Scott Ritter, an ex US Marine who served in the 1991 Gulf War and a former UN arms inspector, is calling the bluff.

"It's like going to a doctor who says you have a brain tumour and that he needs to chop off your head so he can dig it out," Ritter told a gathering of students at the University of Maryland.

"You say, 'wait, that's kind of extreme. May I see the X'rays?'. And the doctor says: don't worry about X'rays. Just trust me on this."'

Brushing off US allegations, Dr Carlos Borroto, deputy director of the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Centre in Havana says that Cuba's scientific community "is offended and does not accept the US administration's accusation". "And I am sure that US politicians know it is a baseless lie," he added.

Borroto said that delegates and journalists who participated in the International Biotechnology Congress in late November were shown the scientific research that Cuba was undertaking in several fields, including animal cloning, tissue cultivation and genetic improvements on vegetable species.

Cuba's scientists are currently working on 60 such programmes, he said, but none of them relate to weapons of mass destruction.

According to Cuban officials, Bolton's statement was an attempt to undermine a highly-publicised visit to Cuba at that time by former American President Jimmy Carter.

Immediately following Carter's visit to Havana, Bush denounced Castro as a "tyrant". Bush's hostility towards Castro was also an attempt to appease anti-Castro Cuban-Americans in Florida where the US president's brother Jeb Bush was re-elected Governor last month with backing from the Cuban-American community.

Bush has also warned that full normalisation of relations with Cuba -- diplomatic recognition, open trade, and aid programmes-- will only be possible when Cuba has a new government "that is fully democratic, when the rule of law is respected and when the human rights of all are fully protected".

But despite Bush's unrelenting stand against Cuba, the 191-member General Assembly adopted a resolution last month calling for an end to the US economic embargo against Cuba.

This was eleventh successive year that the Assembly called for a termination of the embargo. This year's resolution was adopted by a recorded vote of 173 in favour to three against (the US, Israel and Marshall Islands).

Over the years, Sri Lanka has continued to take a firm stand against the US embargo on Cuba.

Despite American pressure, Sri Lanka has even refused to compromise by taking the easy way out-- rushing to the toilet at the crucial voting time.

But with the Sri Lankan government getting increasingly closer to the Americans these days, things may change in the new year.

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