Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday rejected an independent investigation into the role of the Pakistani military in transfers of nuclear technology (AFP photo/Press Information Department). Musharraf Rejects Outside Investigation of Pakistani Nuclear Smuggling Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday that he would not provide international nuclear inspectors with documents related to Pakistan’s internal probe of proliferation activities by its nuclear scientists, according to the New York Times (see GSN, Feb. 5). Musharraf yesterday pardoned the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, for transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Musharraf said he based his decision to pardon Khan, who he called “my hero,” on the scientist’s role in developing Pakistan’s nuclear bomb...Full Story

Bush Creates Intelligence Review Group, Names Most Members By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush today named seven members of an independent panel that will review U.S. intelligence-gathering amid unmet expectations of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (see GSN, Feb. 5)...Full Story

U.S. Unsealing Sensitive Libyan Materials Under U.N. Supervision By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. scientists under U.N. observation are beginning to examine Libyan nuclear materials that have been flown to the United States, officials and diplomats said this week (see GSN, Feb. 4)...Full Story

Iraq Survey Group Should Continue Work, Kay Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S.-led Iraq Survey Group, currently searching Iraq for evidence of suspected WMD efforts, should continue its work despite its meager findings so far, said former group leader David Kay yesterday. The team should focus, in part, on investigating the role of foreign procurement in Iraqi weapons efforts, Kay said (see GSN, Feb. 5)...Full Story

	Friday, February 6, 2004

Bush Administration Proposes Maritime, Port Security Funding Increases The fiscal 2005 budget proposal submitted this week by U.S. President George W. Bush contains funding increases for maritime and port security, according to a White House fact sheet (see GSN, Feb. 3). The fiscal 2005 request includes almost $2 billion for port security efforts conducted by the Homeland Security Department, an increase of 13 percent over current funding. The request also includes $6.6 billion for border security efforts, an increase of 7 percent over fiscal 2004 funding; and $6.3 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard, an 64 percent increase over fiscal 2001 (White House release I, Feb. 5). During a speech yesterday at the Union Pier Terminal in Charleston, S.C., Bush stressed the importance of port and maritime security. “That’s why I’ve come to this vital seaport, to remind people — to remind the American people, as they pay attention to the debates in the halls of Congress, that we have a solemn duty to protect our homeland, including the seaports of America,” Bush said (White House release II, Feb. 5). Meanwhile, Adm. Vern Clark said Wednesday that the U.S. Navy and other agencies were working to develop a maritime early warning system similar to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. “I’m convinced we need to build a maritime NORAD,” Clark said. He said naval vessels could install satellite transponders, similar to the radar identification systems used by the Federal Aviation Administration to track aircraft. Clark also said that a maritime early warning system would also need to check incoming cargo along with the vessels carrying them (James Crawley, San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 5).  Back to top

Bush Creates Intelligence Review Group, Names Most Members By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush today named seven members of an independent panel that will review U.S. intelligence-gathering amid unmet expectations of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (see GSN, Feb. 5). Bush said the commission’s mandate would be to “examine intelligence on weapons of mass destruction and related 21st-century threats and issue specific recommendations to ensure our capabilities are strong.” Promising cooperation from intelligence agencies and other federal agencies, Bush said the panel would be charged with producing a report by March 31 of next year. The president named former Democratic U.S. Senator and Virginia Governor Charles Robb and Republican retired judge Laurence Silberman as chairmen of the bipartisan panel. In a previous high-profile investigation of a Republican administration, Silberman and another judge in 1990 overturned the convictions of Oliver North and John Poindexter for their involvement in the Reagan-era Iran-Contra affair. Also named as members of the panel were Carter- and Clinton-era White House counsel Lloyd Cutler, Yale University President Richard Levin, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), former CIA Deputy Director William Studeman and former District of Columbia appeals court judge Patricia Wald. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) immediately issued a statement questioning the composition of the panel. “We had an opportunity to have a truly independent commission that could have brought fresh eyes to the subject.  Instead, we have a commission wholly owned by the executive branch investigating the executive branch. To have a commission appointed exclusively by President Bush investigate his administration’s intelligence failures in Iraq does not inspire confidence in its independence,” Pelosi said. Creating the commission today by executive order, Bush cited former Iraq Survey Group head David Kay’s view that U.S. intelligence erred in expecting to find WMD stocks in Iraq. “We are determined to figure out why,” Bush said. In addition to comparing “what the Iraq Survey Group learns with the information we had prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom,” Bush said, the panel “will review our intelligence on weapons programs in countries such as North Korea and Iran” and “on the threats posed by Libya and Afghanistan before recent changes in those countries.” U.S. intelligence agencies have been criticized for an alleged failure to detect illicit activities recently acknowledged by Iran and Libya. Democratic members of Congress have called for investigation not only of intelligence agencies’ performance but also of how the Bush administration used intelligence to make its case for war. Bush made no mention of such an inquiry. The commission will ultimately have nine members. Bush said efforts are under way to “vet and find additional members to fill out the nine.” Back to top       Iraq Survey Group Should Continue Work, Kay Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S.-led Iraq Survey Group, currently searching Iraq for evidence of suspected WMD efforts, should continue its work despite its meager findings so far, said former group leader David Kay yesterday. The team should focus, in part, on investigating the role of foreign procurement in Iraqi weapons efforts, Kay said (see GSN, Feb. 5). Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace here, Kay reiterated his assessments of prewar Iraq’s WMD capabilities, based on his tenure as the U.S. overseer of the Iraq Survey Group. With regard to biological and chemical weapons, Kay said it was “clear” that prewar Iraq did not possess large stockpiles of such weapons, nor has evidence been found of large-scale production capabilities. Kay also said that it would be an “exaggeration” to characterize Iraq’s nuclear program as resurgent, as some Bush administration officials claimed prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Even though the Iraq Survey Group has so far failed to find evidence of prewar Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Kay said yesterday that the unit should continue its work in Iraq. One reason, according to Kay, is to discover what role foreign procurement and assistance played in prewar Iraq’s WMD efforts, namely its ballistic missile program.  “In the missile area, what made Iraq so threatening and the program that they really started pushing ahead in late ‘99, early 2000, was the degree of foreign assistance. And that’s one reason the Iraq Survey Group must continue,” he said. Kay also said that the recent confession by the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, to having transferred nuclear technology to several countries illustrates the concern over foreign procurement activities (see related GSN story, today). “I mean, it’s been a wake-up call for me — and, I think, most of my colleagues that exist in this area — that essentially A.Q. Khan had been running a Sam’s Club for nuclear weapons,” Kay said. On Wednesday, the Institute for Science and International Security released a report saying that Khan’s confession could help investigate an attempt by Iraq in the early 1990s to purchase components for its nuclear weapons program on the international black market.  According to the report, prepared by ISIS President David Albright and Corey Hinderstein, a 1990 memo from the Iraqi Mukhabarat intelligence service addressed to a contact in Iraq’s nuclear weapons program, identified as PC-3, details a meeting between Iraqi intelligence officers and a middleman identified as Malik, who said he represented Khan. The memo, according to a U.N. translation, says that Khan was prepared to provide Iraq with nuclear weapon designs and to aid in producing enriched uranium. The memo also says that Khan was prepared to meet with Iraqi officials to discuss the documents he was willing to sell, but that a meeting was not possible at the time due to the tension surrounding Iraq’s then-occupation of Kuwait. The ISIS report says that PC-3 was suspicious of Malik’s offer and believed it might have been a sting operation. The Iraqi nuclear weapons program contact, though, advised the Mukhabarat to try to obtain a sample from Malik. Post-1995 discussions with officials from Iraq’s nuclear weapons program, though, said that no such samples were ever received, the ISIS report says. Kay said yesterday that he had seen no evidence of Iraqi-Pakistani cooperation, but that it was another issue the Iraq Survey Group should investigate. “It’s always been one of the mysteries. You would almost expect to find it; there are some political reasons for thinking you might not. So far, [it is] still an open question,” Kay said. For the Iraq Survey Group to continue its work, it must be given more resources and its focus must return solely to searching for weapons of mass destruction, Kay said during a brief impromptu press conference before his Carnegie speech. He attributed his decision to resign to the diversion of resources and unit personnel to other missions, such as counterinsurgency efforts. Kay also stressed that the Iraq Survey Group has a “very limited window of opportunity” to work unimpaired, noting that a sovereign Iraqi government was scheduled to take control at the end of June. Intelligence Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that U.S. President George W. Bush is expected today to formally create a nine-member commission to examine U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts. According to AP, administration officials have said the commission will be directed to report its findings next year and that Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) will be one of its members (see GSN, Feb. 4). Kay yesterday, though, said the commission should not be given a set timeline for completing its work, adding that the process should not “drag out” to avoid the commission losing momentum. In his remarks, Kay offered several possible issues for the commission to investigate, such as whether policy-makers “hardened” WMD-related intelligence beyond analysts’ assumptions and the “caveat process” for intelligence reports.  The issue of whether Bush administration officials pressured analysts to tailor their assessments to fit the administration’s positions should also be considered, Kay said. He added, though, that he had received no reports by analysts of such pressure, and praised Vice President Dick Cheney for visiting the CIA to questions analysts.  “I think the vice president has gotten unfairly a rap,” Kay said. “Let me tell you, my deepest regret is that prior to 9/11 we did not have vice presidents, secretary of defenses (sic) secretary of states (sic) who would go over to the agency and the other three-letter organizations around this town and ask them about their analysis of al-Qaeda,” he said. In the end, though, the commission itself should determine what issues it will examine, Kay said.  “I don’t think we should be writing in great detail exactly what they have to look at. That strikes me as a sure way to get a whitewash,” he said. In addition yesterday, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) said that a draft report of the committee’s own inquiry into prewar intelligence had been provided to members. “We now have made available to members the draft report. Members will now hopefully read this report, and I’m sure they will, and become certainly better educated to this effort,” Roberts said. He emphasized the level of work that went into preparing the draft report — the result of the committee’s eight-month effort “It is over 300 pages long.  The effort involved 30,000 pages worth of resource material,” Roberts said. Over the next three weeks, the Senate intelligence panel members will examine the draft report and offer suggestions, such as possible additional issues to be considered, according to Roberts. While some Democrats have called for the committee to investigate possible abuses of intelligence by Bush administration officials, Roberts has been opposed to such a plan. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, suggested yesterday, though, that Roberts might be willing to expand the committee’s efforts. “There are some things that need to be discussed that aren’t being discussed. And the chairman indicated he was open … that we might be able to look at those,” Rockefeller said. Back to top       U.S., British, Libyan Officials Meet in London U.S. and British officials met today with a Libyan delegation in London to discuss measures to improve relations following Libya’s planned dismantlement of its WMD programs, according to CNN.com (see GSN, Feb. 4). The U.S. delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, was prepared to discuss measures such as easing sanctions and restoring diplomatic ties with Libya, U.S. officials said. They added, though, that no early decisions were likely to be made. Today’s talks are also expected to pave the way for a planned trip by Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Mohammed Shalgam to the United Kingdom next week, according to CNN.com. The British Foreign Office said Shalgam is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to discuss Libya’s WMD dismantlement effort and other issues (CNN.com, Feb. 6). OPCW Visits Meanwhile, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention, announced yesterday that an initial round of “technical discussions” has been held in Tripoli between organization experts and Libyan officials. During the talks, the Libyan officials said a national committee had been established to cooperate with the OPCW on carrying out Libya’s treaty obligations, as well as to establish procedures to facilitate inspections (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Feb. 5). Back to top

Musharraf Rejects Outside Investigation of Pakistani Nuclear Smuggling Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday that he would not provide international nuclear inspectors with documents related to Pakistan’s internal probe of proliferation activities by its nuclear scientists, according to the New York Times (see GSN, Feb. 5). Musharraf yesterday pardoned the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, for transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Musharraf said he based his decision to pardon Khan, who he called “my hero,” on the scientist’s role in developing Pakistan’s nuclear bomb. “No one can negate it, no one can cancel it, no one can disprove it,” Musharraf said of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. “This hero has given us grace and respect,” he added. Musharraf yesterday, though, also said that Pakistan would not share documents from its investigation with international inspectors, nor would he order an independent investigation into the possible role of the Pakistani military in any nuclear transfers. He added that he would never allow the United Nations to supervise Pakistan’s nuclear program. “Negative to all three,” Musharraf said. “It is an independent nation.  Nobody comes inside and checks our things. We check them ourselves,” he said (David Rohde, New York Times, Feb. 6). The United States yesterday praised Musharraf for disbanding one of the world’s largest nuclear proliferation networks, according to the New York Times (see related GSN story, today). “The actions of Pakistan have broken up this network,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. McClellan also said the White House believes Musharraf’s assertions that the military was not involved in any transfers. “President Musharraf provided us assurances that the government of Pakistan was not involved in any kind of proliferation activities,” he said. “We value those assurances and his actions since he made those assurances demonstrate his commitment to the issue of proliferation,” McClellan added (Sanger/Broad, New York Times, Feb. 6). Outside experts, though, had mixed reactions to the news of Musharraf’s pardon of Khan. “I can think of no one who deserves less to be pardoned,” former chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq David Kay said. Some have said that Khan’s pardon may be a type of plea bargain designed to gain additional information on nuclear smuggling. “We could beat our chests and be outraged,” said former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Oakley, but “the most important thing is to get as much information [as] possible as to where the links (to accomplices) were. … We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said (George Gedda, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 6). Pakistani opposition lawmakers have expressed outrage at the treatment of Khan, who is seen by many in Pakistan as a national hero, according to Reuters. “The people of Pakistan clearly feel that the apology and confession obtained from Dr. Qadeer Khan were obtained under pressure, while the world feels the whole process has basically been a cover-up,” said opposition lawmaker Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Khan said a parliamentary inquiry was needed to investigate whether Musharraf capitulated to foreign pressure in his treatment of Khan (Tahir Ikram, Reuters, Feb. 6). Back to top       U.S. Unsealing Sensitive Libyan Materials Under U.N. Supervision By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. scientists under U.N. observation are beginning to examine Libyan nuclear materials that have been flown to the United States, officials and diplomats said this week (see GSN, Feb. 4). Under an arrangement worked out by the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency, officials may already have removed seals from the Libyan materials, diplomats said. “If it hasn’t occurred yet, it will occur very shortly,” a Western diplomat said today. IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog have in recent days conducted verification activities in the United States. Tons of Libyan components, documents and other materials have been flown to Tennessee in recent weeks following Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi’s Dec. 19 pledge to end his country’s secret nuclear programs. The U.S. inspection comes amid continuing revelations about a global nuclear underground fueled by Pakistani national hero Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has been pardoned by Islamabad after acknowledging he transferred nuclear technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea (see related GSN stories, today). The IAEA has placed seals on what a U.S. official called “a small percentage” of the Libyan materials. Western diplomats in Vienna, where the IAEA is headquartered, said the U.N. agency will have inspectors present whenever seals are opened. “The weapons blueprints are under IAEA seal, and IAEA people were in the U.S. over the last couple of days as part of our continued verification. All sensitive material is under IAEA seal,” Fleming said. “We have full access until we finish our work,” she said. It is unclear exactly what portion of the transported Libyan material is under IAEA safeguards. Although the U.S. official said most of the material is not sealed, several Western diplomats in Vienna said the most sensitive items have been sealed. One Western diplomat said material left unsealed “didn’t need to be” sealed. The U.S. official said U.S. and IAEA representatives in Libya are cooperating to establish the safeguards status of materials recovered. “We are working cooperatively with them on the ground in Libya to determine which stuff will be under safeguards,” the official said. One Western diplomat in Vienna said the United States has promised to respect the IAEA seals partly to protect the “chain of custody” of the Libyan materials. “They can say that ‘we took it out of Libya; now here it is, untouched,’” the diplomat said. Back to top       Malaysia Promises Full Investigation of Centrifuge Deal Malaysia yesterday pledged to conduct a comprehensive investigation into allegations that a Malaysian company provided uranium centrifuge components to a company that might have intended to transfer them to Libya, according to the Wall Street Journal (see GSN, Feb. 5). Malaysian authorities are investigating a deal between the Malaysian firm Scomi Group Bhd. and Gulf Technical Industries LLC, based in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Journal. In a statement yesterday, the Malaysian company said that it had supplied four shipments of “semifinished” centrifuge components to Gulf Technical Industries in 2002 and 2003, but it was unaware of the planned “end use” of the components. In October, though, a shipment of the Malaysian-built components was intercepted en route to Libya. There is no evidence that Scomi knew the components were going to be transferred to Libya, a senior Malaysian official said yesterday. Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Najib Razak yesterday, though, pledged a full investigation into the incident. “The investigation will be very thorough and very transparent,” Najib said (Leslie Lopez, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 6). In addition, Malaysian Prime Minister Abduallah Ahmad Badawi, whose son controls Scomi, also pledged a full and independent investigation. “I have directed the police to carry out the investigations without fear of favor,” Abdullah said (Eileen Ng, Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Feb. 6). Meanwhile, Malaysia today rejected a claim made in a speech yesterday by CIA Director George Tenet that Scomi was one of the key players in an international nuclear black market. “To say it is the largest part of a network is totally inaccurate,” a senior Malaysian official said. “It is coming from a CIA director who is discredited — he screwed up the intelligence going into Iraq,” the official said (Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 6). Back to top       U.S. Suspects Iran Is Hiding More Nuclear Facilities A senior U.S. official has said there is evidence that Iran is working to build a second and more-advanced covert uranium enrichment facility, the London Telegraph reported today (see GSN, Jan. 23). U.S. and other Western sources believe that Iran is attempting to build a G2 uranium enrichment centrifuge that uses rotors made with maraging steel, which would be more efficient than the centrifuges at the known Natanz plant, according to the Telegraph. “There is no doubt in our mind that the Iranians have a lot that the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] does not know about,” the U.S. official said. “The Iranians have a military program that the IAEA has never set eyes on,” the official said. While Iran agreed last year to suspend its uranium enrichment program, Western diplomats have been concerned that Tehran continues to purchase and assemble centrifuges, according to the Telegraph. Senior diplomats from France, Germany and the United Kingdom — the three nations that brokered the uranium enrichment “freeze” — met with Iranian officials this week in Vienna to demand they stop such activities, but reached no agreement. Officials have said that their information on the suspected site is “sketchy,” and that they do not know if the plant has been completed or if Iran has all the necessary components for the G2 centrifuges. “There is much that we don’t know,” the senior U.S. official said. “We don’t know how far the Iranians have gone, but they are making progress. They are developing a completely indigenous capability. At some point cutting off the external support will not be enough to stop it,” the official said (Anton La Guardia, London Telegraph, Feb. 6). Back to top       ElBaradei Says Nuclear Smuggling Network Requires More Investigation International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said yesterday that top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had not worked alone in transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea (see related GSN story, today). “Dr. Khan is the tip of an iceberg for us,” ElBaradei said, adding that he did not know if Khan was even the “head” of an international nuclear black market that supplied technology to nations of proliferation concern. “We’re still in the process of investigating this whole network of supply, so we haven’t really seen the complete picture. I think that’s really our number one priority,” ElBaradei said (Reuters/Planet Ark, Feb. 6). IAEA officials said investigators are pursuing leads in several countries, including Germany, Japan, Malaysia and two other unidentified European countries. In addition, ElBaradei said agency inspectors were reviewing past allegations that a middleman claiming to represent Khan offered to sell Iraq nuclear weapons designs prior to the 1991 Gulf War — an offer Iraqi officials suspected was a trap. “Maybe in hindsight it was not a scam,” ElBaradei said. “But thank God they did not act on it,” he said.  ElBaradei called for increased international cooperation in exposing the nuclear black market. “We need to know who supplied what, when, to whom. Dr. Khan was not working alone,” he said (Peter Slevin, Washington Post, Feb. 6). Back to top       B-1 Bomber Recommissioning Would Cost $3 Billion, Pentagon Says The U.S. Air Force is seeking to modify a congressional effort to restore once-retired B-1 bombers to active service, Inside the Air Force reported today. The long-range bomber was originally designed to deliver strategic nuclear weapons but has been reconfigured now to carry conventional arms (see GSN, Feb. 4). The U.S. Congress appropriated $17 million for fiscal 2004 to begin returning 23 of the bombers to service after they had been retired in 2001 (see GSN, July 14, 2003). During last year’s budget negotiation process, the Air Force resisted the congressional effort, saying it would cost $1 billion to perform the reversal (see GSN, June 2, 2003). Last week, a senior Defense Department official announced that last year’s estimate has now been tripled to $3 billion, according to Inside the Air Force. Of 32 bombers that have been retired, eight were placed on static display and 24 were sent to the Air Force’s mothball center in Arizona. Of those 24, the Air Force placed 10 in “inviolate storage,” where they are kept intact for possible reuse, and the rest are in “excess storage,” where the planes can be cannibalized for parts. The Pentagon official said the Air Force has not decided how to spend the $17 million and will propose program modifications to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a main advocate of unretiring the bombers (Elizabeth Rees, Inside the Air Force, Feb. 6). Back to top       Russian Lawmaker Accuses U.S. of Using Nuclear Weapons in Iraq A Russian lawmaker charged this week that the United States used low-yield nuclear weapons in the war on Iraq. Citing “information received from my sources, among them Iraqi sources,” State Duma member Alexei Mitrofanov, of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, said the United States used nuclear weapons to attack the Baghdad airport, where “people were evaporated, turned into shadows, and the airport’s buildings destroyed.”  Mitrofanov’s party leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, backed up his colleague, saying the United States has used low-yield nuclear weapons for 10 years. An effort by Mitrofanov to formally call Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov to the Duma to address the matter was rejected by other members because the claims “look insufficiently convincing,” said Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Feb. 6). Back to top

Two of Three U.S. Senate Office Buildings Affected by Ricin Incident Reopen Two U.S. Senate office buildings reopened yesterday after three were closed earlier this week because of the discovery of ricin in the offices of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Feb. 5). The Russell and Hart Senate Office Buildings were reopened by yesterday evening, according to AP. The Dirksen Senate Office Building, where Frist’s office suite is located, is expected to reopen Monday. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), though, said the Dirksen building could reopen today (Associated Press/USA Today, Feb. 5). Environmental Protection Agency officials, who have conducted testing of the three buildings to determine the extent of the ricin contamination, said the material had only been found in the mailroom of Frist’s office. Law enforcement officials remain unsure, though, as to how the ricin was delivered to Frist’s office, according to the New York Times. “We have not found a hot letter at this point in time,” said Assistant FBI Director Michael Mason. “In terms of how it was delivered to that room, it is open to your imagination,” he said (Carl Hulse, New York Times, Feb. 6). Meanwhile, federal law enforcement officials are also seeking aid from the U.S. trucking community to find the person who sent two ricin-containing letters to the Transportation Department and the White House last fall, according to the Washington Post. The two letters were signed “Fallen Angel” and criticized new trucking regulations that went into effect early last month. As part of their effort, law enforcement officials said they are investigating the rosters of U.S. trucking companies. In addition, FBI officials have also sought help from trucker talk-radio shows and online chat sites, the Post reported (Marilyn Thompson, Washington Post, Feb. 6). Back to top

Scientists Urge U.S. Army to Improve Monitoring of Chemical Weapons The U.S. Army needs to improve how it monitors its chemical weapons to minimize the number of leaking weapons and other chemical agent containers, according to a report by a U.S. scientific panel. The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the rate of chemical agent leakage from U.S. weapons could increase over time and therefore it urged the Army to install new monitoring equipment and to conduct new statistical studies of leakage rates. The United States stores chemical weapons at eight sites around the country and has a program to destroy the weapons at each site according to the terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention (see GSN, Oct. 31, 2003). As the weapons await destruction, they are slowly experiencing chemical decomposition, a process that could corrode the weapons’ metal casings and result in leaking agent, according to the report, entitled Effects of Degraded Agent and Munitions Anomalies on Chemical Stockpile Disposal Operations. Small numbers of leaks occur routinely and the report expressed concern that the leakage rate could increase (see GSN, Sept. 3, 2003). “The decomposition mechanism is such that agent degradation may be expected to accelerate at elevated temperatures and over long storage times,” the report says. The report urges several measures to improve the Army’s monitoring of the situation, including modifying the way in which data is collected and stored to ease its analysis; studying whether different versions of the same chemical agents deteriorate at different speeds; and installing temperature sensors in storage “igloos” to determine if controlling the temperature could slow the rate of chemical decomposition. Above all, the report suggests there is only one way to ensure that no chemical weapons harm site workers or nearby residents. “The effects of leakers and other anomalies can best be minimized by the earliest possible destruction of all agents at all sites,” it says (NRC report, Feb. 4). Back to top       Sarin Release Forces One-Day Suspension of Chemical Destruction at Anniston Incineration operations at the U.S. Army’s chemical weapons destruction facility in Anniston, Ala., were suspended for nearly a day this week after cleaning work triggered alarms and a small release of sarin into a clean area of the facility, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Jan. 16). Wednesday afternoon, two workers were changing filters that had been encrusted with crystalline sarin agent and allowed some the agent to get on their protective clothing. After moving to a decontamination area to remove their suits, alarms rang nearby after some the agent apparently drifted in the wrong direction, according to plant officials. After assessing the situation, destruction activity resumed yesterday. While work stoppages have occurred occasionally at Anniston, but this one was particularly worrisome, said a plant spokesman. “I’m not aware of another situation that has put us on edge like this did,” said Bob Love, project manager for plant operator Westinghouse Anniston. Love said that corrections to the facility’s airflow were required. “It needs to be fixed,” he said, adding “We’ll have to change airflows or open doors slower or something” (Associated Press/Al.com, Feb. 6). Back to top       Utah Chemical Weapons Worker Gets Six Months in Federal Prison U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell Wednesday sentenced David Yarbrough, a former supervisor at the Deseret Chemical Depot in Tooele, Utah, to six months in federal prison after being convicted last summer of crafting records to falsely indicate that chemical weapons destruction equipment was operating safely (see GSN, Jan. 15). In addition, Campbell also ordered Yarbrough to pay $10,700 in fines and fees, according to the Tooele Transcript-Bulletin. She had previously indicated that she would sentence Yarbrough to probation. Campbell said she had received letters from Yarbrough’s family and friends stressing his innocence, but added that those letters, especially one written by Yarbrough’s mother, had hurt his case (Mary Ruth Hammond, Tooele Transcript-Bulletin, Feb. 5).   Back to top

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