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.