BANGKOK, Thailand — Washington hopes gamma rays, paperless offices, blacklists and tip-offs will prevent terrorists shipping chemical, biological and radioactive bombs through huge seaports to "kill Americans and our allies."

Smallpox. Nerve and blister agents. Ricin. Industrial and agricultural chemicals. Explosives.

American officials are worried these packages could sail into ports from abroad or be sent from the U.S. anywhere in the world.

An estimated 90 percent of the world's cargo moves by container.

Terrorists have long sought chemical ways to exterminate foes, U.S. officials said.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Texas had planned to blow up a hydrogen sulfide refinery tank, and the Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord, an American white supremacist movement, had wanted to drop cyanide in urban drinking water, delegates were told.

The Dec. 11-13 Regional Forum on Transshipment Controls was arranged by the U.S. State Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Treasury and other agencies.

Asian officials were reminded of suspected al Qaeda-linked groups and bombings in the region, and an additional terrorist phenomenon: gurus.

Concern was expressed over the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult's weaponization of sarin gas.

And two of Indian guru Rajneesh's devotees had sprayed salmonella bacteria on salad bars in Oregon so citizens would be ill and not vote in a local election the Rajneesh cult wanted to win, they said.

U.S. authorities said terrorists could explode ships in international ports, or stealthily move weapons-capable ingredients to hideouts or future ground zeros via rectangular, metal containers on commercial vessels.

"The maritime container industry remains extremely vulnerable to being used by terrorists to move their weapons," the U.S. Customs Department's Training and Assistance Division Director, Patricia McCauley, said in an interview.

"We know that al Qaeda...not only wants to attack Americans and our allies, and kill Americans and our allies, but they also want to destroy our economy," Washington D.C.-based Ms. McCauley said.

"One of our biggest fears is that they will infiltrate a known shipper and try to use legitimate cargo to move their weapons and detonate a bomb in a port or in the city in the U.S.," she said.

Asked if they tried or did that, Ms. McCauley replied: "I don't think I can answer that because that would be intelligence."

Ms. McCauley is part of a Customs' International Affairs Office effort to boost security, and oversee a massive upgrade of the world's 20 biggest seaports within "four to six months".

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Kaohsiung, Tokyo, Thailand's Laem Chabang and other sprawling seaports are being advised to use X-rays or — for better resolution — gamma rays in security screening machines. Rotterdam, Pusan, Genoa, Antwerp, Negoya, Le Harve and Hamburg have also been upgrading.

America will not finance all the equipment, but the U.S. will explain how scans of shipments can profit impoverished countries.

Unforeseen taxable and smuggled goods can suddenly be discovered and seized in abundance, Ms. McCauley said.

X-rays can provide a "shadow-gram" of dense objects and detailed images of a container's contents.

Shipping containers would also be checked if they raised questions in paperwork which, starting Dec. 2, has to be filed 24 hours before a ship is loaded.

A "good description" of cargo, "precise and accurate," is now mandatory "worldwide", Ms. McCauley said.

"It has been in effect one week, and I think that the initial reaction to the 24-hour rule was more fear of disruption of present business practices," she said.

Delegates heard an extensive, generalized "port security threat" warning by an FBI hazardous materials officer.

"I'm even more frightened now," Ms. McCauley said at the end of the slide-show lecture.

In foreign ports, curious U.S. officials can't rip through cargo because of "sovereignty" concerns, but Americans want to "observe" local agents doing the work.

Terrorists want to use international "export-import businesses, brokerages, trading houses, free trade zones, reprocessing zones and other institutions," U.S. Deputy Under Secretary for Industry and Security, Karan K. Bhatia, said.

As a result, "the top trade security officials from every major transshipment country in East and Southeast Asia" plus "exporters, importers, shipping lines, airlines, port operators, brokers, forwarders and integrators" attended this Bangkok forum, Mr. Bhatia said.

Even worse than a terrorist attack would be the resulting widespread panic among the public which could cripple international shipping and wreck economies, similar to the way airlines were grounded over America after the Sept. 11, 2001 kamikaze attacks on New York and Washington, Mr. Bhatia added.

"Lists published by U.S. and foreign government agencies advising exporters of persons or entities of concern" are also part of the war on terrorism, he said.

More than a dozen Asian, European and other nations' officials attended the forum, co-hosted by Thailand.

China did not appear, but Taiwan came. The Chinese rivals compete for diplomatic support and often avoid sharing international stages.

Taiwan's customs officials recently learned about "protecting oneself from radiation from non-medical X-ray devices," such as scanners, and "will build a large X-ray apparatus at Kaohsiung harbor in the near future," the Taiwan delegation said.

"So far, no serious violations have occurred in our territory, but the lack of diplomatic relations between many other countries and the Republic of China [Taiwan] limits [our] task force's ability to do post-shipment checks abroad," the delegation told the forum.

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Richard S. Ehrlich has a Master's Degree in Journalism from Columbia University, and is the co-author of the classic book of epistolary history, "HELLO MY BIG BIG HONEY!" -- Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews.

His web page is located at http://www.oocities.org/asia_correspondent and he may be reached by email: animists at yahoo *dot* com