AT LEAST 18 communist parties have called for an international movement to end the growing threat from biological warfare.

The call follows a conference earlier this month initiated by the so-called “Coalition of Four” parties formed at the end of last year; the United Communist Party of Georgia, the Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan, the Socialist Party of Latvia, the Communist Party of Pakistan.

“Today, all powerful capitalist countries, openly or secretively, have their own arsenal of such [biological] weapons and conduct research in the field of their improvement and application,” a joint statement said.

The communists warned that transnational companies and imperialist forces continued to ignore UN conventions and other international structures as they seek to strengthen their global domination.

“We are particularly concerned about the fact that the development of biological weapons continues in many countries. 

“According to the programmes of the US Pentagon alone, 1,495 laboratories have been created around the world, which are not accountable to the governments of the countries where they work, and their activities are not transparent,” the communists claimed.

The communists’ statement says that military biological laboratories operate in Iraq, Pakistan, Jordan, Tanzania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Liberia, Guinea, Burma, Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Laos, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and other countries.

The United States is believed to have spent more than $100 billion (£75bn) on the biological weapons industry over the past 20 years.

But Washington has refused to sign up to international conventions that prevent the development and use of biological weapons, which the communists said blocked efforts at stopping the emergence of new types of deadly diseases for warfare purposes.

The parties called for the immediate closure of military biological laboratories, an end to public funding and global campaigns against foreign military bases of Nato and the United States.

“The role of communist and workers’ parties is irreplaceable in revealing the causes of modern imperialist wars,” the statement said. 

“At the same time, active actions of communists in support of the international anti-imperialist movement are required to co-ordinate actions, including against weapons of mass destruction.”

In 1953, Alan Winnington, the former international editor of the Morning Star’s predecessor the Daily Worker, exposed the secretive use of biological weapons by the US during the Korean war. 

He was branded a traitor and banned from returning to Britain for 20 years because of his reporting, which was later proven to be true.