Document Number: FBIS-SOV-2002-0808 Document Date: 08 Aug 2002 Division: Russia, North America Subdivision: Russia, United States Sourceline: CEP20020808000087 Moscow Interfax in English 1009 GMT 8 Aug 02 Citysource: Moscow Interfax Language: English

[FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) – The Russian State Duma has expressed concern about the United States’ program to develop a qualitatively new type of weapon.

“Under the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), the U.S. is creating new integral geophysical weapons that may influence the near-Earth medium with high-frequency radio waves,” the State Duma said in an appeal circulated on Thursday.

“The significance of this qualitative leap could be compared to the transition from cold steel to fire arms, or from conventional weapons to nuclear weapons. This new type of weapons differs from previous types in that the near-Earth medium becomes at once an object of direct influence and its component.

These conclusions were made by the commission of the State Duma’s international affairs and defense committees, the statement reads.

The committees reported that the U.S. is planning to test three facilities of this kind. One of them is located on the military testing ground in Alaska and its full-scale tests are to begin in early 2003. The second one is in Greenland and the third one in Norway.

“When these facilities are launched into space from Norway, Alsaka and Greenland, a closed contour will be created with a truly fantastic integral potential for influencing the near-Earth medium,” the State Duma said.

The U.S. plans to carry out large-scale scientific experiments, under the HAARP program, and not controlled by the global community, will create weapons capable of breaking radio communication lines and equipment installed on spaceships and rockets, provoke serious accidents in electricity networks and in oil and gas pipelines and have a negative impact on the mental health of people populating entire regions, the deputies said. They demanded that an international ban be put on such large-scale geophysical experiments. The appeal, signed by 90 deputies, has been sent to President Vladimir Putin, to the United Nations and other international organizations, to the parliaments and leaders of the UN member countries, to the scientific public and to mass media outlets. Among those who signed the appeal are Tatyana Astrakhankina, Nikolai Kharitonov, Yegor Ligachev, Sergei Reshulsky, Vitaly Sevastyanov, Viktor Cherepkov, Valentin Zorkaltsev and Alexei Mitrofanov. [Description of Source: Moscow Interfax in English — non-government information agency known for its aggressive reporting, extensive economic coverage, and good coverage of Russia’s regions. ]