Following the Dec. 19 announcement that Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi would dismantle his nation’s WMD programs, international inspectors visited formerly secret nuclear facilities this weekend (AFP/Getty). Libyan Nuclear Weapons Program in “Very Initial Stages,” ElBaradei Says Libya’s nuclear weapons program was not in an advanced state when Libya recently announced its intention to abandon the program, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said today (see GSN, Nov. 13). ElBaradei and a team of IAEA experts visited four previously secret nuclear sites in and near Tripoli yesterday, the Associated Press reported. ElBaradei said the visits indicated that Libya’s nuclear weapons program had made little progress when Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi decided to open it to international inspectors. ..Full Story

Joint U.S.-Russian Operation Recovers HEU From Bulgarian Research Reactor A joint U.S.-Russian operation last week recovered a stockpile of highly enriched uranium from a Soviet-era research reactor facility in Bulgaria, according to the U.S. Energy Department (see GSN, Nov. 24)...Full Story

U.S. Suspends Military Anthrax Vaccination Program The U.S. Defense Department last week announced that it would temporarily suspend its anthrax vaccination program, according to the New York Times (see GSN, Dec. 3)...Full Story

	Monday, December 29, 2003

U.S. Lawmaker Calls for Refining Threat Alert System By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. House Select Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) yesterday said that further refinements were needed for the U.S. terrorism threat alert system — a call that came less than one week after the alert level was raised for the first time in more than seven months (see GSN, Nov. 7). During an appearance on FOX News Sunday, Cox praised the U.S. Homeland Security Department’s “sparing” use of the threat alert system, which rates the current risk of attack as one of five colors — green, representing a “low” risk; blue, representing a “guarded” risk; yellow, representing an “elevated” risk, orange, representing a “high” risk; and red, representing a “severe” risk of attack. Cox warned, however, that the system is “a one-size-fits-all notion that applies to a quarter billion people in America.” Once a decision is made to raise the threat alert level, “we go to a higher state of alert everywhere in all places in America, even though no matter how general the threat,” Cox said. “We can be certain that the country is not threatened in a homogenized way everywhere — the same way at all times,” he added. “I think we always have to worry about scaring people to death when, to a certainty, these terrorists are not omnipotent,” Cox said. Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced such a shift in the national threat alert level, from yellow to orange. Ridge said the decision to raise the level was based, in part, on the large increase in the level and amount of reported information. “We’ve never quite seen it at this level before. And the sources we could point to that are credible and our ability to corroborate some of this information — the strategic indicators suggest that it is the most significant threat reporting since 9/11,” he said. Ridge refused to detail the security measures being implemented in response to the elevated threat level, but said that information relevant to a specific city or potential threat would be shared “when appropriate.” “We have done that in the past and will continue to do so through this period and as long as we’re dealing with the threat of global terrorism,” he said. Xinhua News Agency reported Friday that security had been increased at U.S. nuclear power plants in response to the elevated threat alert level. During an interview last week with NBC’s Today, Ridge said that New York and Washington, which were affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, were included on a list of possible targets. He defended, however, the decision to raise the national threat alert level as a whole. “I think it was very appropriate for us to raise it across the country so that all metropolitan areas increase their level of security,” Ridge said (see GSN, Sept. 15) Cox yesterday, though, called for further refinements to the threat alert system to add increased specificity, such as through specific information for a certain region or industry. He added that his committee has worked on legislation that would further refine how the Homeland Security Department uses the alert system. “What we’d like to see is increased communications with people who can act on this intelligence, certainly, with our chiefs of state police; with our governors; with our state and local law enforcement; also with custodians of critical infrastructure in the private sector; people who know just what to do with this, rather the global news,” Cox said. According to Representative Jim Turner (D-Texas), the top Democrat on the House homeland security panel, refinements to the alert system will help prevent people from ignoring threat warnings when they are released. “We thought that over time if we continue to have this general alert system that people would begin to ignore the alert, and even states and localities and local officials would find that it would be hard to justify the increased expense," Turner was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. “Because it does cost states and local governments hundreds of thousands of dollars every time the alert level is raised, I think we owe it to local governments to be more specific when possible,” he said. Back to top

Libyan Nuclear Weapons Program in “Very Initial Stages,” ElBaradei Says Libya’s nuclear weapons program was not in an advanced state when Libya recently announced its intention to abandon the program, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said today (see GSN, Nov. 13). ElBaradei and a team of IAEA experts visited four previously secret nuclear sites in and near Tripoli yesterday, the Associated Press reported. ElBaradei said the visits indicated that Libya’s nuclear weapons program had made little progress when Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi decided to open it to international inspectors.  “What we have seen is a program in the very initial stages of development,” ElBaradei said. “We haven’t seen any industrial-scale facility to produce highly enriched uranium; we haven’t seen any enriched uranium,” he added. The equipment and technology found at the Libyan nuclear sites has been dismantled and packed and appears to have come from a number of countries, ElBaradei said. He said that it would be easy to determine where Libya’s nuclear-related equipment had originated because “they were of a familiar design.” ElBaradei also said that a “sophisticated network” had helped Libya obtain its nuclear-related technology — a network made up of “a number of different people in a number of different places, a network which you can call a cartel but not necessarily with the knowledge of a particular country or countries.” “It has been across many countries in the world,” he said (Maggie Michael, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 29). A Western diplomat in Tripoli said that Iran and Pakistan are among the possible sources for Libyan nuclear technology (Daniel Williams, Washington Post, Dec. 28). A team of about 10 nuclear inspectors is set to remain in Libya to conduct additional and more intensive inspections over the next few weeks, an aide to ElBaradei said (Andrea Koppel, CNN.com, Dec. 28). ElBaradei also said today that it was his “gut feeling” that Libya was about three to seven years away from producing a nuclear weapon (Andrea Koppel, CNN.com, Dec. 29). Libya Announces Dismantlement Plans The IAEA visits to Libyan nuclear sites over the weekend followed a Dec. 19 announcement by U.S. President George W. Bush that Qadhafi had agreed to “disclose and dismantle” all WMD programs and to “immediately and unconditionally” allow international inspectors to visit Libya. During a White House press conference, Bush said that talks on Libya’s disarmament began about nine months ago, when Qadhafi contacted the United States and the United Kingdom “through personal envoys.” Libyan officials have provided the United States and the United Kingdom with documentation on the full scope of Libya’s WMD and missile programs, and U.S. and British experts have met with Libyan officials to learn additional information, Bush said. “With today’s announcement by its leader, Libya has begun the process of rejoining the community of nations. And Col. Qadhafi knows the way forward.  Libya should carry out the commitments announced today,” Bush said (White House release, Dec. 19). U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan supports Libya’s decision to abide by its international nonproliferation obligations, a U.N. spokesman said last week. Annan “sees this as a positive step towards the strengthening of global efforts to prevent the spread and use of those weapons,” the spokesman said (U.N. release, Dec. 20). During a separate Dec. 19 press conference, a senior Bush administration official outlined the information Libya provided on its WMD efforts, such as an admission of nuclear fuel cycle activities intended to support a nuclear weapons program. Libya also revealed a “significant quantity” of mustard agent produced more than a decade ago at a facility near the town of Rabta, along with chemical munitions and the equipment needed to establish a second chemical weapons production facility, the official said. With regard to biological weapons, Libya admitted its previous intentions to acquire the equipment needed to produce such weapons, the senior Bush administration official said. During two visits — one conducted in October and one held this month — U.S. and British experts were taken to “a number” of medical and agricultural research centers that had the potential to be used in biological weapons research, the official said. The senior Bush administration official also said that Libya had admitted to cooperating with North Korea to develop extended-range Scud ballistic missiles. U.S. experts were given “substantial access” to Libya’s Scud-B missile arsenal, as well as to a number of locations where missile-related research is conducted, the official said. Libya has also agreed to destroy all of its missiles capable of traveling more than 300 kilometers while carrying payloads greater than 500 kilograms, and has agreed to no longer develop or deploy missiles in violation of those limits, the senior Bush administration official said. During the White House press conference, the senior Bush administration official said that there were few surprises in regard to Libya’s declarations of its chemical weapons capabilities, but added that there was a “much further advanced” nuclear program than previously believed.  The official also sought to explain why Libya sought to develop weapons of mass destruction. “I think [it was] a perverse sense that it would bring them greater security and greater prestige. And it brought them neither.  And I think the message is very clear from what they’ve done today that other states should not see WMD as a path to security or prestige,” the senior Bush administration official said (U.S. State Department release, Dec. 19). While White House officials said that Operation Iraqi Freedom had influenced Libya’s decision to dismantle its WMD programs, British officials also praised the role of their country’s decision in 1999 to re-establish diplomatic ties with Tripoli, according to the Washington Post. Another influence was that Libya had learned that U.S. and British intelligence services had developed verifiable knowledge of Libyan WMD materials, U.S. officials said. Officials also said that the U.S. negotiating stance had been improved by a previously undisclosed interdiction conducted through the Proliferation Security Initiative — a U.S.-led effort to interdict suspected shipments of WMD-related cargo, according to the Post (see GSN, Dec. 18). They provided no further details, however, on the interdiction (Slevin/Frankel, Washington Post, Dec. 20). In an interview last week with CNN, Qadhafi said that while Libya had WMD programs, it did not possess actual weapons of mass destruction. “We have not these weapons,” he said, adding that Libya’s programs “would have been for peaceful purposes — but nevertheless we decided to get rid of them completely.” Qadhafi denied that his decision to dismantle Libya’s WMD programs had been influenced by the U.S. invasion of Iraq. “So many countries have a nuclear program and actually some of them have weapons of mass destruction and such countries actually dismantle these programs in a transparent way, in a legal way,” he said. Qadhafi also called on other nations to follow his example. “I believe they should follow the steps of Libya or take an example from Libya, so that they prevent any tragedy from being inflicted upon their own people,” he said. By doing so, Qadhafi said, other countries “would tighten the noose around the Israelis so that they would expose their programs and their weapons of mass destruction” (CNN.com, Dec. 23). Bush suggested during his Dec. 19 press conference that the United States might drop its sanctions against Libya if Qadhafi follows through on his pledge to end his WMD efforts.  “As the Libyan government takes these essential steps and demonstrates its seriousness, its good faith will be returned. Libya can regain a secure and respected place among the nations, and over time, achieve far better relations with the United States,” Bush said (White House release, Dec. 19). When asked during his CNN interview if the agreement was the start of improved U.S.-Libyan relations, Qadhafi replied, “I do hope so” (CNN.com, Dec. 23). International Agreements Meanwhile, Libya announced Saturday that it would also sign the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, which would give the agency the authority to conduct more intrusive monitoring of Libyan nuclear activities, according to Reuters. “Libya will cooperate and deal with the agency (the IAEA) with complete transparency ... and Libya will sign the Additional Protocol,” said Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abderrhmane Chalgam. “This is a clear message to everybody, especially the Israelis, they must start dismantling their weapons of mass destruction,” he added (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Dec. 27). ElBaradei said today that Libya had “committed … to act as if the protocol was in force” (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Dec. 29). In addition, Libya has agreed to adhere to the Chemical Weapons Convention “without delay,” the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced last week. The OPCW, which oversees the treaty, now plans to work with Libyan officials to prepare for Libya’s accession to the convention and the subsequent inspections and monitoring of Libyan chemical sites, the organization said. “Libya’s adherence to the convention will significantly enhance the international community’s efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It will also extend further the reach of the global ban on chemical weapons in the Middle East, a region where the international prohibition of chemical weapons is not yet fully in force,” the OPCW said (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Dec. 22). Back to top       China Issues New Export Control Regulations China has issued new regulations on the registration and licensing of WMD-related exports, Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday (see GSN, Dec. 4). The new regulations, which are set to go into effect Jan. 1, were drafted by the Chinese Commerce Ministry and the General Administration of Customs, according to a Commerce Ministry statement. The new regulations make public China’s control list of dual-use items and technologies, a Commerce Ministry official said. Under the new regulations, the Commerce Ministry will be responsible issuing export licenses and the Customs bureau will oversee procedures for businesses required to provide relevant licenses. The new regulations also include a “catch-all” provision, under which exporters are required to apply for a license if the item to be exported could pose a proliferation risk, even if that item is not included on the control list, the Commerce Ministry official said (Xinhua News Agency, Dec. 27). Back to top

Joint U.S.-Russian Operation Recovers HEU From Bulgarian Research Reactor A joint U.S.-Russian operation last week recovered a stockpile of highly enriched uranium from a Soviet-era research reactor facility in Bulgaria, according to the U.S. Energy Department (see GSN, Nov. 24). On Dec. 23, 17 kilograms of Russian-origin HEU was returned to Russia from a research reactor facility in Sofia during an operation monitored by U.S. and International Atomic Energy Agency experts, according to an Energy Department press release. The HEU was taken to Dmitrovgrad, Russia, where it will be blended down to a lower enrichment level for use as fuel in civilian nuclear power plants, the Energy release said.  In addition to returning the HEU to Russia, Bulgaria has also agreed to convert the research reactor, which was shut down in 1989, to use low-enriched uranium fuel, according to U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration chief Linton Brooks. “The Bulgarians have shown leadership as they have cooperated with the U.S., Russia and the IAEA in seeking ways to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation,” Brooks said (U.S. Energy Department release, Dec. 24). Back to top       North Korea Ready For Nuclear Talks Next Year North Korea has agreed to six-nation talks early next year to defuse the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 19). Pyongyang reportedly agreed to the talks after a three-day visit by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi. China will most likely host the talks, which are also scheduled to include Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. “Both sides … expressed their willingness to make appropriate preparations so that talks can resume at an early date next year to continue the process for a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said. North Korea blamed the United States for delays in arranging the talks. “The main problem in preparing for the next round of six-nation talks is the United States’ refusal to make a shift in its policy and its insistence that we disarm ourselves by abandoning our nuclear program first,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said (Associated Press/CNN.com, Dec. 28). China confirmed the agreement. “Concerning the second round of six-party talks, there is a consensus on staging it as early as possible next year, and North Korea also agrees to this,” said Fu Ying, director general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Asian Affairs Bureau. The timing of the meetings is still unclear, according to Wi Sung-lac, director general of the South Korean Foreign Ministry’s North American Affairs Bureau. “January is mentioned in some press reports, but that is not necessarily the case,” Wi said (Yonhap News Agency/BBC Monitoring, Dec. 29). The United States, meanwhile, said that it will increase its food aid to North Korea after the U.N. World Food Program reported fewer obstacles to monitoring food distribution in the reclusive, famine-ravaged country. Washington has already donated 40,000 tons of food in 2003 and will put forward an additional 60,000 tons, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said last week (Elise Labott, CNN.com, Dec. 25). Back to top       Brazil Shows Reluctance to Allow Stringent Nuclear Inspections Although Brazil has declared it is planning to produce enriched uranium by the middle of next year, a Brazilian official said the country is unwilling to allow more rigorous U.N. inspections of its nuclear facilities, the New York Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 7). Brazilian officials insist they are developing a peaceful nuclear program, but they are unwilling to sign the Additional Protocol to Brazil’s nuclear safeguards agreement — which would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct more intrusive monitoring of Brazil’s nuclear activities. “All we’ve got are a couple itty-bitty reactors,” Roberto Amaral, the Brazilian minister of science and technology, said this month.  “It is necessary to be worried about what goes on out there, not here,” he added. The U.N. nuclear agency has not taken a firm stand on Brazil’s nuclear development. “We are working and have been working for some time with the government and authorities in Brazil to develop an appropriate verification regime for this new facility,” said IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky (Larry Rohter, New York Times, Dec. 28). Back to top       Pakistan Investigates Possible Nuclear Technology Proliferation Pakistan is investigating the possible transfer of its nuclear technology to Iran, with Pakistani officials questioning three scientists in recent weeks, the London Guardian reported last week (see GSN, Dec. 12). The moves have come as Pakistan faces intense pressure from the International Atomic Energy Agency over allegations that it backed Iran’s nuclear weapons development. “Confronted by the agency with pretty overwhelming evidence, the Pakistanis thought they had better do something,” said a diplomat in Vienna (Ian Traynor, London Guardian, Dec. 24). Pakistan said it had never and would never proliferate nuclear technology. “Pakistan takes its responsibility as a nuclear weapons state seriously,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said last week. “We are a responsible state and we understand our obligations,” he added. Pakistani officials were given information that pointed to individuals who might have exported nuclear technology, according to Khan. “We had been approached by the IAEA … we had been given some information by the government of Iran,” he said. Khan said also that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons development, was being questioned. “He is not under detention and the nature of the questioning is not interrogative,” Khan said. “He is too eminent a scientist to undergo a normal debriefing session,” he added (CNN.com, Dec. 23). The United States said that Pakistan had promised it is not proliferating nuclear weapons technology. “That is the past,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf “has assured us there are not any transfers of WMD-related technologies or know-how going on in the present time,” he added (CNN.com, Dec. 22). Back to top       IAEA Expands Investigation Into Iran’s Nuclear Suppliers International nuclear investigators have widened their probe of countries sponsoring Iran’s covert nuclear activities to include more than six additional nations, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, Dec. 19). The International Atomic Energy Agency was investigating Pakistan, Russia and China over allegations that those countries aided Iran’s clandestine nuclear development. The investigation has now widened “well beyond” those countries and includes companies from Austria, Germany, Switzerland and other West European countries, according to a diplomat (George Jahn, Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 26). Back to top       Russia Test-Fires Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile A Russian submarine test-fired a ballistic missile last week, Russia’s Defense and Security reported (see GSN, Dec. 12). During the Dec. 26 test, the Russian submarine Yekaterinburg fired a missile successfully toward a target range in Kamchatka, according to Capt. Igor Dygalo, assistant commander for the Northern Fleet (Defense and Security, Dec. 29). According to the Bellona Foundation, the Yekaterinburg is a Delta IV ballistic missile submarine which completed significant repairs in 2002 (Bellona Foundation, Dec. 27) Back to top

U.S. Suspends Military Anthrax Vaccination Program The U.S. Defense Department last week announced that it would temporarily suspend its anthrax vaccination program, according to the New York Times (see GSN, Dec. 3). The Pentagon’s decision followed a recent U.S. federal court ruling that military personnel cannot be forced to take the vaccine, the Times reported. Last  Monday, Judge Emmett Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Pentagon from “inoculating service members without their consent” and ruled that the vaccine used by the Pentagon was “an investigational drug” being used for an unapproved purpose. Sullivan agreed with arguments that the vaccine had only been licensed to prevent the skin form of anthrax, not inhalational anthrax, the Times reported (Thom Shanker, New York Times, Dec. 24). According to Assistant Defense Secretary William Winkenwerder, the judge’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed in March by six anonymous service members. During a Dec. 23 Pentagon press briefing, Winkenwerder defended the anthrax vaccine. “The anthrax vaccine is safe and effective, and it’s been licensed by the FDA since 1970. The Department of Defense has always complied with, and will continue to comply with all FDA requirements in its use of the anthrax vaccine,” he said. Winkenwerder cited a March 2002 Institute of Medicine report, which said that the current anthrax vaccine is effective for preventing anthrax, including inhalational anthrax, in humans. He also countered Sullivan’s claim that the current vaccine had not been approved for use to prevent inhalational anthrax, saying, “it’s a licensed product against all forms of anthrax.” “In summary, this court ruling is not supported by medical science or by medical facts. It challenges the conclusions of America’s best medical experts,” Winkenwerder said (U.S. Defense Department release, Dec. 23). On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department filed a motion requesting that Sullivan withdraw his preliminary injunction against the Pentagon’s anthrax vaccination program, or to agree to limit the injunction to only the six plaintiffs in the March lawsuit, according to the New York Times. The motion asks for a clarification as to whether the injunction only applies to the six plaintiffs. If not, then it asks that Sullivan reconsider the injunction because the suit was not filed on behalf of all U.S. military personnel, the Times reported. “Plaintiffs never pursued this case as a class action,” the motion says. “An award of preliminary injunctive relief to anyone other than the six Doe plaintiffs before the court would be wholly without justification,” it says. Mark Zaid, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers who provided a copy of the motion to the Times, said that while the motion was “understandable from the legal standpoint,” it was “completely absurd from a policy standpoint.” “The vaccine as being used is experimental in nature and therefore unlawful unless informed consent is given,” Zaid said. “So to argue that this decision should only apply to those six individuals does a real injustice,” he said (Thom Shanker, New York Times, Dec. 27). Back to top       U.S. Officials Concerned About U.S. Vulnerability to Anthrax Attacks Bush administration officials have said that there are new concerns about the vulnerability of the United States to anthrax attacks, noting the results of a recent attack simulation and information obtained from captured al-Qaeda operatives, the New York Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 2). Last month, a secret Cabinet-level exercise named Scarlet Cloud was conducted that simulated simultaneous anthrax attacks in several U.S. cities, according to the Times. While the drill found that anthrax detection capabilities had improved, it also demonstrated that there were flaws in antibiotic distribution systems and that a widespread attack could kill thousands, the Times reported. Officials also said the exercise indicated that improved plans were needed to control and monitor potentially contaminated people and food. The exercise “showed that we are a lot better off today than we were two years ago before 9/11,” a senior administration official said. “It also showed that there has definitely been a fast learning curve on bioterrorism,” the official said. In addition, information obtained through the interrogation of captured al-Qaeda operatives has also increased concerns about the possibility of an anthrax attack, Bush administration officials said. For example, after being arrested earlier this year, senior al-Qaeda operative Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said that al-Qaeda had long been interested in obtaining biological agents, a U.S. official said. Mohammed has told U.S. authorities that prior to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, al-Qaeda’s anthrax program was being conducted in the Afghan city of Kandahar and was led by two men who have since been captured, U.S. officials said (Judith Miller, New York Times, Dec. 28). Back to top

Macedonian Missile Efforts Trigger U.S. Sanctions By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States has sanctioned two Macedonian entities for alleged missile proliferation activities, according to a notice published last week in the Federal Register (see GSN, Sept. 19). Earlier this month, a determination was made that the Macedonian company Mikrosam and the Macedonian national Blagoja Samakoski had conducted missile technology proliferation activities, according to the notice. A U.S. State Department official told Global Security Newswire today that the two entities transferred items controlled under Category 2 of the Missile Technology Control Regime annex — dual-use items capable of being used to develop a missile with a range of 300 kilometers and capable of carrying at least a 500-kilogram payload — to a non-MTCR member. The official refused, however, to further describe what items were transferred or to identify the recipient country. Under the mandatory sanctions, Mikrosam and Samakoski are prohibited from importing items from the United States controlled by the MTCR and the U.S. Export Administration Act for two years. The two entities are also prohibited from entering into U.S. government contracts related to MTCR-controlled items or technologies for two years, according to the notice. In addition the United States also chose to impose a second set of sanctions against the two entities, according to a Federal Register notice. Under the second set of sanctions, Mikrosam and Samakoski are prohibited from entering into any contracts with the U.S. government and from exporting goods into the United States for two years. In addition, the State Department has suspended “until further notice” all licenses and approval for defense-related exports to the two entities, the notice says. The State Department official said, though, that the decision to impose the second set of sanctions should not be seen as an indication of the seriousness of the alleged missile proliferation activities.  The Macedonian government had been informed about the decision to impose sanctions before the announcement, and has been cooperative and agreed to strengthen its export control system, the State Department official said. The official added that this case demonstrated that proliferators have taken an interest in “pockets” that might not have been previously considered as sources for WMD and missile-related items. “[I] guess we’ll find out the hard way if this is a one-off occurrence,” the State Department official said. Back to top

Defense Official Says Drug Money Funds Al-Qaeda’s Effort to Acquire Dirty Bombs The al-Qaeda terrorist network uses profits from illicit drug trafficking to fund its arms purchases and to possibly acquire materials that could be used in radiological weapons, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Dec. 2). “[Osama] Bin-Laden does not mind trafficking in drugs, even though it’s against the teaching of Islam, because it’s being used to kill Westerners,” said a U.S. defense official.  “He has allies and associates who are not members per se, but who move products for him and take drugs and buy arms and give the arms to al-Qaeda,” the official added. The White House is now pushing to undermine al-Qaeda by attacking its narcotics operations, according to the Times. The terrorist organization is reportedly using poppy fields in Afghanistan to produce heroin and opium. “If you’re going to get terrorism under control, we’ve got to stop their livelihood, which is money,” said the defense official (Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, Dec. 29).   Back to top

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