Belarus: Arms sales merit stern talk from U.S.

A U.S. congressman told Belarus officials on Saturday in Minsk that the United States was alarmed by reports the former Soviet republic sells weapons to countries that support terrorism.

Rep. Jim Saxton, a New Jersey Republican, led a congressional delegation to Minsk to meet with senior Belarusian officials, including Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvostov and Defense Minister Leonid Maltsev.

The legislator said he considered “trustworthy” reports that Belarus was selling weapons to terrorist organizations and so-called rogue states, the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass reported. Saxton said Belarus is allegedly providing military training to states that the United States has accused of sponsoring terrorism.

Belarus has denied the allegations, emphasizing that it abides by all United Nations’ regulations regarding arms sales.

United Arab Emirates: Report: Taliban moved millions before attack

Just as the United States and its allies swept toward Afghanistan’s main cities last autumn, the ruling Taliban and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network sent waves of couriers with bars of gold and bundles of dollars across the porous border into Pakistan, The Washington Post reported today.

In small shops and businesses along the border, the money and gold, taken from Afghanistan’s banks and national coffers, were collected and moved by trusted Taliban and al-Qaida operatives to the port city of Karachi, Pakistan, according to sources familiar with the events.

Then, using couriers and the virtually untraceable hawala money transfer system, they transferred millions of dollars to the United Arab Emirates, where the assets were converted to gold bullion. The riches of the Taliban and al-Qaida were subsequently scattered around the world to escape seizure, the Post reported.

Brazil: Vaccine recall affects up to 60,000 people

As many as 60,000 Brazilians may have to get revaccinated against Hepatitis A after the company that makes the vaccine said some doses weren’t potent enough, a health official said Saturday.

Merck & Co. initiated an international recall of the vaccine on Nov. 16 after tests showed some doses that had been sold to patients didn’t provide enough protection against the liver disease, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on its Web site. The vaccine was recalled from Brazil starting Dec. 4.

“Merck informed us that after a tracking of the vaccines they sold, some 60,000 people in Brazil may need to be revaccinated,” said a Health Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company confirmed Merck recalled some VAQTA vaccine.