the rollback of south africa's biological warfare program

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destruction investigation into this case, began investigating claims Ford made to his associates and friends that he served as a consultant to the SADF and had close ties with the CIA. Former South African General Surgeon, Dr. Niels Knobel, initially confirmed that he met Ford at a conference in San Diego, California in the late 1980s and that they had remained friends ever since. Knobel also confirmed that they shared an interest in AIDS, because they both knew that the epidemic was going to have a devastating impact in Africa. However, Knobel recently acknowledged that he met with Ford and his associates, during one of their many visits to the South African trade representative’s official residence in Los Angeles. 95 In a recent phone interview, Knobel stated, “Our whole policy of protecting members of the defense force against HIV (educating them to use condoms) came from my relationship with Larry. We both worked toward a cure for AIDS that would be available to the vast population of Africa, (and) there was no political agenda.” 96 Others reported that Ford visited South Africa several years earlier than Dr. Knobel acknowledged. According to Dr. Scharf, the former head of Military Hospital One in Pretoria, Ford visited in the mid-1980s as a guest of the South African Surgeon General. Dr. Scharf remembered a visit by Ford to his hospital as the guest of Knobel in 1984 or 1985. Knobel insisted that Ford be given VIP treatment (at the hospital’s expense). Scharf was offended by Ford’s request for human placenta that he wanted to use in his research on viruses. Scharf refused to cooperate and claimed that he threw Ford out of his office, after warning him that such activities would be very controversial, if they became public, due to the fact that all Africans viewed babies as sacred. 97 Recently, Knobel confirmed to American reporters that he helped Ford establish protocols to test his product in South Africa but said he did not know if those trials were every carried out. According to microbiologist Mike Odendaal, researcher at RRL, Ford also visited South Africa again in 1987 to 34
instruct scientists working with a SADF front company on how to turn teabags, doilies, and pornographic magazines into “weapons” that could be used against the ANC by using species of clostridium bacteria. Odendaal reported that the scientists found much of Ford’s advice confusing and some went so far as to call him a fraud. 98 Police investigating this case have been unable to corroborate many of Ford’s claims made before his death. For example, Ford claimed that he parachuted into southern Africa during the apartheid era to take blood samples from dead guerrilla fighters in order to help the U.S. government determine the biological warfare agents against which the Soviets were vaccinating their allies. 99 Another long-time Ford associate, Jerry D. Nilsson, also came under investigation. Nilsson claimed that he and Ford traveled to Africa together. In 1988, Nilsson organized a group of doctors, including Ford, to buy a defunct Los Angeles hospital. The plan was to turn it into a state-of-the-art infectious disease research center, the Lake View Terrace Institute. Nilsson told the Los Angles Times that the facility was to be “one cog in a complex, far-reaching project” with related facilities in Africa, Germany, Italy and Britain. The scheme flopped when research groups denied they were backing the venture. The nature of Nilsson’s relationship with Ford has remained unclear. Police seized considerable material when they raided Nilsson’s house and storage lockers but did not release details of the searches. Nilsson’s friends claimed that he and Ford stashed chemicals and germs at several locations in southern California. Police acknowledged that the evidence strongly suggested that Dr. Ford was deeply involved in a conspiracy and that he would be in custody today were he alive. Another long-time associate of Ford claimed that only about one per cent of the story of Ford’s activities in Africa has been disclosed. 100 In July 2000, an Orange County, California grand jury heard evidence to determine the facts in the Ford case. Evidence pointed to Ford’s links to the 35
Page 1: THE ROLLBACK OF SOUTH AFRICA’S BI
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword vii Exec
Page 7 and 8: FOREWORD We are pleased to publish
Page 9 and 10: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The profile of So
Page 11 and 12: The Rollback of the South African B
Page 13 and 14: During WWII, South African Prime Mi
Page 15 and 16: dollars) estimate to build a CBW pr
Page 17 and 18: learn first-hand how the Portuguese
Page 19 and 20: use of chemical and biological agen
Page 21 and 22: incidents underscored the variable
Page 23 and 24: Convention (BWC). According to form
Page 25 and 26: Project Coast, which would countera
Page 27 and 28: internal suppression of political d
Page 29 and 30: Malan, and the Minister of Finance,
Page 31 and 32: The chain of command demonstrates t
Page 33 and 34: omb could be used to wipe out or in
Page 35 and 36: tear gas and to incapacitate withou
Page 37 and 38: In the aftermath of Cuito Cuanavale
Page 39 and 40: confirmed, there is evidence that s
Page 41 and 42: the SSC. At this time, the security
Page 43: Given the breadth and depth of coop
Page 47 and 48: the South African President’s off
Page 49 and 50: Mandrax and Ecstasy that were produ
Page 51 and 52: overseas business deals. 114 In Aug
Page 53 and 54: South Africa negotiated the withdra
Page 55 and 56: political party or organization. Pr
Page 57 and 58: nuclear weapons program and Project
Page 59 and 60: TRC, the men who tried to kill Chik
Page 61 and 62: In 1991, Basson began to build Mert
Page 63 and 64: Military personnel from several cou
Page 65 and 66: Meyer, the Acting Defense Secretary
Page 67 and 68: leave the SADF at the end of March
Page 69 and 70: Knobel’s testimony to the TRC, SA
Page 71 and 72: objected to the South African CBM a
Page 73 and 74: Basson and his trips to Libya were
Page 75 and 76: experiences for the military leader
Page 77 and 78: was submitted in 1994). This time U
Page 79 and 80: as the U.S., Great Britain, and oth
Page 81 and 82: investigation phase ended. Initiall
Page 83 and 84: June 1998. However, several weeks b
Page 85 and 86: penalties did finally force him to
Page 87 and 88: public. The State was operating on
Page 89 and 90: The limited news coverage of the Ba
Page 91 and 92: South African court for crimes comm
Page 93 and 94: ulings excluding evidence, his timi
Page 95 and 96:
had asked him to set up a facility
Page 97 and 98:
cover illegal personal gains from t
Page 99 and 100:
who had detailed knowledge of many
Page 101 and 102:
9. What specifically and when did t
Page 103 and 104:
e delivered through food and water,
Page 105 and 106:
Reconciliation Commission of South
Page 107 and 108:
41 Interview with Dr. G. Scharf, fo
Page 109 and 110:
56 Mangold, Plague Wars, 243. 57 In
Page 111 and 112:
weaponization took place. Donald Ma
Page 113 and 114:
home of Jerry Nilsson, who was ques
Page 115 and 116:
he still need to raise cash in Sout
Page 117 and 118:
military bases and was familiar to
Page 119 and 120:
162 According to Dr. Ian Phillips,
Page 121 and 122:
Basson’s arrest was the result of
Page 123 and 124:
200 By the seventh week of the tria
Page 125:
115
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