From February 4-8, 40 Cypriot officials from the Police, Customs, Cyprus Port Authority and Civil Defense attended the “Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Counterproliferation Awareness” training Seminar in Limassol.

The training which was organized by the U.S. Embassy and the Department of Defense's International Counterproliferation Program (ICP) through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) increased the participant awareness of the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons proliferation threat and its effects. The course focused on the basics of global and regional WMD proliferation, global terrorism concerns, methods of detecting, interdicting, identifying and preventing trafficking of WMD and related materials, practical information on the nature and effects of nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological materials and technologies and the fundamentals of first response to a WMD incident.

At the closing ceremony U.S. Embassy and Cyprus Police representatives highlighted the need for continued close cooperation on counterterrorism and counterproliferation efforts.