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CNN Live Saturday

International Small Arms Trade Flourishes

Aired August 04, 2001 - 15:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Now for a look at the illegal trade of small arms internationally.

CNN's Jim Clancy shows us how the United Nations is taking action to curb the billion-dollar-a-year trade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A funeral pyre of hundreds of weapons makes for an impressive show, and determined efforts to get combatants to hand over their arms in exchange for development assistance deserve credit.

But these weapons have already produced misery and death, and billions of dollars in profit for arms dealers and corrupt middlemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they don't care. They're in it to make a lot of money, and they do. And they get away with it because the trade is so lucrative they can afford to pay large bribes to those who can issue the necessary permits or turn a blind eye when the weapons are coming through a certain shipment point.

CLANCY: It all begins with the legal manufacture of small arms, whether it Europe, the U.S. or even South Africa, the making of assault rifles and other weapons enables most of the trade. Massive stocks of post-Soviet era weaponry also find their way to Africa in lucrative deals.

Arms merchants with the help of corrupt government officials create certificates saying the arms are bound for legal buyers when, in fact, they are diverted.

Groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and journalists have documented who is suspected of trafficking. Detailed reports like "The Arms Fixers" are available on the Internet, and show a web of dealers fueling conflicts with weaponry shipped from the former East Bloc nations, Britain, the U.S., Israel and even South Africa.

The recent United Nations conference that aimed to curb this sale of small arms marked a first: a recognition of the global significance of the trade.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think it is important that we do whatever we can to bring to closure this question of illicit weapons floating around the world by symbolically destroying some of these weapons to get across the world the message that these weapons are hopeless.

CLANCY: But some African and European nations were deeply disappointed the U.S. refused to back a ban on selling arms to rebel groups or to restrict civilian gun ownership. Answering criticism, the final agreement was watered down.

The top U.S. official in the field defended Washington's stand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say it's not watered down at all. It was made realistic and credible. And so what we have is something that will pass muster in the United States and in a lot of other countries to move forward.

CLANCY: Whatever progress has been made, anyone who hopes to end the illegal trade in small arms that helps fuel conflicts in Africa must accept that it will take years.

Even armed with a list of names, the reality is that in the last year international law enforcement hasn't nabbed a single arms dealer, according to numerous groups investigating the trade.

U.S. officials say the first step, though, was taken at the United Nations: getting the countries together to agree on a strategy. The arrests may follow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the only way I can see to move forward. But you're right: Diplomats sitting around a table is New York is really not going to affect anything on the ground. It's the program of action, implementation that counts; and that's the part that we were focused on from beginning to end.

CLANCY: Jim Clancy, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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