US to destroy chemical weapons from World War Two it left behind in Panama

The United States will destroy eight World War II-era chemical bombs it left in Panama decades ago, the government in the Central American country said on Friday.

The project is supported by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The Americans will destroy the eight bombs in late 2017 under an agreement with Panama, the foreign ministry said.

This process will be monitored and verified by the OPCW, it added. The bombs are located on an island called San Jose off the southern coast of Panama, in the Pacific Ocean.

There, the United States is alleged to have carried out tests with mustard gas, phosgene and other chemical weapons for possible use in Worl War II and the Vietnam War.

The United States maintained military bases in Panama from the time it completed the Panama Canal in 1914 until its withdrawal in 1999. After World War II, San Jose island was used for military testing by the United States, Britain and Canada.