In Cyprus, officials from Algeria to Iraq train to keep WMD from crossing their borders

LARNACA, Cyprus -- From as far as Algeria, Iraq and Georgia, an assortment of senior government officials converge on this small facility for training by top U.S. experts to prevent the kinds of materials used to build weapons of mass destruction from crossing their borders.

In just its third year of operation, the U.S.-funded Cyprus Centre for Land, Open Seas and Port Security (CYCLOPS) has far exceeded expectations. From the dozen courses that officials were initially hoping to hold annually, demand has skyrocketed, with scheduled training sessions for next year expected to surpass 50, says the center’s director Chrysilios Chrysiliou.

So far, over 2,000 officials from 20 countries including Yemen, Libya, Armenia and Ukraine, have received training on radiological and nuclear detection for customs officers, methods of smuggling weapons of mass destruction, and chemical terrorism investigations among a host of other topics.

On Monday, a group of Cypriot and Egyptian officials started a two-day seminar on maritime cybersecurity led by the U.S.-based Sandia National Laboratories.

“This uniqueness has actually brought ... a lot of success which could not had been foreseen when Cyclops was initially being created,” Chrysiliou told the Associated Press.

According to Chrysiliou, key to the center’s success has been the top-notch level of instruction participants receive from U.S.-based experts, including from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, that specialize in counter-proliferation programs.

The center also boasts an array of the latest in cutting-edge detectors able to sniff out radiological, chemical and biological agents and explosives that countries in the wider region don’t possess or have access to.

“Here, the participants have the opportunity to see the latest technology in in detecting all of the range of the threats,” said Chrysiliou. “It’s like a showcase of what exists out in the market.”

For instance, trainees are taught on how to detect and properly dispose of the radiological elements of discarded medical equipment that militants could use to fashion a weapon. Another emerging threat is the possible use of off-the-shelf drones to disperse chemical or biological agents over populated centers.

CYCLOPS has been the product of ever-closer Cypriot-U.S. defense and security ties, earning plaudits from U.S. officials all the way up to the White House. During Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides’ meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden last week, the center figured prominently as an example of enhanced bilateral security cooperation.

The center was built on a $7 million U.S. government grant, $2 million of which was for the purchase of border security equipment. The island nation's proximity to the Middle East was seen as an asset to helping train officials from the region, whose options for such training would otherwise be very limited. The Cypriot government has secured another $5.6 million in European Union funding to expand the center and purchase additional high-tech equipment.

“There’s such a huge interest by different agencies of the U.S. and the U.N. too, because they have seen the value of utilizing CYCLOPS because of its proximity to their neighboring countries,” Chrysiliou said.

Another selling point for the center is that it’s situated a stone’s throw away from Cyprus’ main international airport of Larnaca and is close to top-flight accommodations that this tourism-reliant country is known for.

The center's managers want to procure an expansive virtual reality system enabling officials to safely train on biological, chemical and radiological agents. Chrysiliou liaises daily with Kevin Keeler from the U.S. State Department’s Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program, who called the VR system a “game-changer.”

Although the center does have small quantities of radiological and other dangerous substances for training, a virtual simulator would greatly enhance the center’s training capacity.

“We’ve already put the word out about this new virtual simulator and we have agencies like, okay, how can we get on the schedule next year when it’s not even been built yet? Yes, because it’s a big factor in today’s world,” said Keeler.

It’s still early days for the center to count on headline-grabbing cases where WMD materials have been seized at any given border. Chrysiliou said what’s equally important in acting as a potent deterrent is to send out the message that trained professionals “have the means and the ways to check and stop you.”

“So if we teach Iraqis or Yemenis or Libyans or from other countries to do a better job in controlling their borders, in controlling the dispersion of weapons of mass destruction ... it makes their citizens much safer and more secure,” said Chrysiliou.