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APEC SECURITY INCLUDES CHEMICAL WARFARE TRAINING
EDMONTON (CP) –Edmonton soldiers have been training to repulse a
possible gas attack against the Asia Pacific Economic Conference in
Vancouver later this month.
Between 50 and 60 members of 1 Service Battalion and 1 Field Ambulance
have been preparing to act as a decontamination unit should the
high-powered conference be the target a chemical or biological attack,
the Edmonton Sun reported Saturday.
The Sun attributed the information to an unnamed source familiar with
the training.
The troops, who will provide specialized support to the joint
RCMP-city police security force for the conference, are scheduled to
move out to the Lower Mainland on Nov. 14 and return on Nov. 29.
The conference, featuring 16 heads of state and the "heads of
economies" of Taiwan and the Hong Kong special economic zone, runs
from Nov. 19 to 25.
The source said the rationale behind the training was the threat of an
attack similar to the one launched by Japan's Aum Shinri Kyo religious
cult against the Tokyo subway system in 1995. Twelve people died and
thousands were sickened when the cultists released sarin nerve gas on
commuter trains.
"That sounds like a contingency plan which we tend not to be too
garrulous about in advance," army spokesman Capt. Dan Thomas said from
Vancouver. "This is probably the largest diplomatic event in Canadian
history and we've only got one chance to get it right. Hopefully when
it's over and nothing happened, we can tell you more.
"Where these people come from, some of their policies aren't that
popular," Thomas said, understating some of the political and social
tension in hotspots such as China, Indonesia, North and South Korea
and the Philippines.
Thomas said Edmonton Garrison will provide about a third of the 1,000
soldiers assigned to the conference, including a couple of 408
Squadron's Griffon helicopters and crews, and their responsibilities
will be mostly logistics and transportation.
Vancouver RCMP spokesman Cpl. John Buis also declined to say if the
Asia Pacific summit –which he called the largest security operation
ever undertaken in Canada –was aware of any specific threat of a
terrorist attack.
"We have to be prepared for everything and we believe we will be. It's
not just the delegates we have to protect but the citizens of Canada
as well," Buis said.
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