British Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) and Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi met today in Tripoli (AFP Photo/Jim Watson). Blair, Qadhafi Meet to Discuss Defense Cooperation British Prime Minister Tony Blair met today with Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi outside of Tripoli, according to BBC News (see GSN, March 24). Upon greeting Blair, Qadhafi said, “You look good, you are still young” (BBC News, March 25)...Full Story

U.S.-British WMD Resolution Circulated to U.N. Security Council By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — The United States and United Kingdom yesterday presented to the other U.N. Security Council members a draft resolution that would require all countries to deny terrorists access to weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2003)...Full Story

Anniston Chemical Depot Completes Destruction of Half of Nerve-Agent Rockets The Anniston Army Depot in Alabama has destroyed half of its stockpile of M55 rockets filled with GB or nerve agent, also called sarin, the Cleburne News reported today (see GSN, March 4)...Full Story

	Thursday, March 25, 2004

Blair, Qadhafi Meet to Discuss Defense Cooperation British Prime Minister Tony Blair met today with Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi outside of Tripoli, according to BBC News (see GSN, March 24). Upon greeting Blair, Qadhafi said, “You look good, you are still young” (BBC News, March 25). In his talks with Qadhafi, Blair was expected to discuss British aid in helping Libya develop a new defense strategy after renouncing weapons of mass destruction, according to the Financial Times. British military personnel would help Libya create a defense policy “for their legitimate security needs in their changed circumstances,” a senior British official said. In addition, the United Kingdom is working to lift a European Union arms embargo against Libya and Libyans might be trained in British military schools, the Times reported. Blair is also expected to discuss encouraging new commercial ties between Libya and British energy and aerospace companies, as well as human rights and economic reforms, the Times reported. By working with Qadhafi, Blair hoped to show other countries the benefits of disengaging from weapons proliferation, the Times said (Financial Times, March 24). United States Inflated Libya’s Nuclear Weapons Capability, Group Says Meanwhile, the Institute for Science and International Security has accused the Bush administration of overstating the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges that Libya had acquired, according to the New York Times. The institute said yesterday that the Bush administration provided an inaccurate briefing to reporters last week when it displayed equipment recovered from Libya’s nuclear program. At that briefing, officials displayed a dozen centrifuges from what they said was a stockpile of about 4,000 removed from Libya, the Times reported. The institute, however, said that its own investigation found that while Libya obtained about 4,000 centrifuges casings, few had the necessary rotors inside to produce enriched uranium. Without those rotors, Libya would have been “several years from being able to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a bomb,” ISIS President David Albright said. “The administration has distorted what was found in Libya, with the implication that it was very close to having a nuclear weapon,” he said. A U.S. Energy Department spokeswoman said that Libya had the raw material and components needed to produce the centrifuges, if not thousands of working devices themselves. Libya also had tons of a high-strength steel “which would make a lot of rotors,” department spokeswoman Jeanne Lopatto said (William Broad, New York Times, March 25). United States to Lift Some Sanctions Senior U.S. officials have reportedly said that the United States will lift some of the remaining economic sanctions against Libya, but the timeline for doing so has not yet been determined, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Libya is reportedly expected, though, to remain on the U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring countries for now (Xinhua News Agency, March 25). Back to top       U.S.-British WMD Resolution Circulated to U.N. Security Council By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — The United States and United Kingdom yesterday presented to the other U.N. Security Council members a draft resolution that would require all countries to deny terrorists access to weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2003). The draft, if approved, would require states to “adopt and enforce appropriate effective laws” to deny nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, their components and “means of delivery” — such as missiles and drones — to any “nonstate actors.” British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said the draft “fills a gap in the nonproliferation regimes” because governments are subject to international controls, but there are no “obligations targeted at the terrorists.” He added, “What we have to do is stop the ultimate nightmare: the bringing together of weapons of mass destruction and the terrorist.” U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said, “We believe that we must act now to set a higher standard to prevent these weapons, key elements used to create them and designs used to make them from falling into the hands of nonstate actors, including terrorists, who seek to do us harm.” The draft, which has been circulating in various forms since December, originated in U.S. President George W. Bush’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly in September 2003 (see GSN, Sept. 23, 2003). The United States and United Kingdom had been discussing the text with the other permanent members of the council — China, France and Russia — and the current draft is the result of their negotiations. The 10 elected members of the council received it yesterday. One of the contentious points during the negotiations among the five was the indirect reference to the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led project in which countries cooperate in interdicting ships on the high seas suspected of carrying WMDs or missiles (see GSN, Feb. 2). China in particular objected to any suggestion that the council would endorse ad hoc “frameworks” such as PSI. Those references have been deleted, but Negroponte said, “There’s nothing in this resolution that precludes the continuation of the Proliferation Security Initiative … which is being conducted under existing international law.” Algerian Ambassador Abdullah Baali, one of the 10 elected members of the council who received the draft yesterday, said his government would “definitely” support the draft, but with reservations. “We understand there is a loophole in the international instruments regarding the issue of WMDs and nonstate actors” because existing treaties only deal with governments, he told Global Security Newswire. “It’s important that the Security Council address the issue and take measures to prevent these nonstate actors from acquiring these weapons.” However, Baali added, this resolution should be “exceptional” to address an immediate danger. Nonproliferation is better dealt with through treaty negotiations, not council mandates, said Baali, who was president of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference in 2000. “It would be a mistake to do it through the Security Council,” he said. “Let’s make sure that it’s exceptional and that the whole membership is on board and try in parallel to engage in negotiating an international agreement that would deal with that phenomenon.” The co-sponsors said they were addressing this concern. Jones Parry said the draft “does not represent the Security Council trying to impose its will to replace the role of properly negotiated multilateral regimes, it is a responsible reaction by the Security Council to a real threat.”  Negroponte said, “There is explicit language in the draft making clear that this resolution is not meant to supercede, undercut or undermine existing disarmament and nonproliferation regimes.” A complaint about the draft from arms control experts has been that the text never refers to disarmament, only nonproliferation. “We are very much aware of that,” said Baali. “It’s obvious there are a lot of things we have to look at in detail and we have to make sure certain guarantees are there, including nuclear disarmament.” Jones Parry said the council might be able to vote on the draft by the end of March, but Baali thought that was too soon. Pointing out that it took the permanent five members months to work out this draft, he said, “For the time being we are studying the draft. We’ll have suggestions and amendments to make in due time.” Back to top       Israeli Panel Criticizes Prewar Iraqi WMD Assessment An Israeli parliamentary committee has determined that Israeli intelligence agencies overestimated Iraq’s prewar WMD capabilities, Haaretz reported today (see GSN, Dec. 5, 2003). The committee, which is set to release a public report on its findings next week, also determined that Israeli intelligence was unaware that Libya was developing weapons of mass destruction, and instead had to learn of the effort from U.S. intelligence, according to Haaretz. The committee has recommended an examination of Israeli’s intelligence doctrine and the division of responsibilities among intelligence agencies, as well as the creation of a special intelligence law to regulate such issues (Gideon Alon, Haaretz, March 25). Back to top

U.N. Inspectors Head to Iran After Two-Week Delay A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency is set to leave for Iran this weekend to begin inspections once delayed by Tehran in response to a critical U.N. resolution, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 22). “IAEA inspectors will leave on Saturday for Iran to conduct inspections at the Natanz gas centrifuge enrichment facility and at the Isfahan nuclear research center,” agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said Last year at Natanz, IAEA inspectors found traces in centrifuges of enriched uranium that could have been used for a nuclear weapon, Reuters reported. Iran claimed the traces came from the equipment’s country of origin, Pakistan (Reuters/Jordan Times, March 25). Agency’s Director General Mohammed ElBaradei said he would visit Iran early next month to emphasize to its leaders the need for “complete and transparent cooperation with the agency to make sure that the Iranian program is completely dedicated for peaceful purposes.” He also said the agency has almost completed its supervision of Libya’s dismantlement of its nuclear program. “We’re almost done concerning inspecting the Libyan program,” he said. “Concerning Iran, we still have to do a lot of work because the Iranian program is more complicated and comprehensive,” he added (Nadia Abou El-Magd, Associated Press/ The Australian, March 24). Back to top       IAEA Investigates Reports of Illegal Uranium Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo The International Atomic Energy Agency has called on the Democratic Republic of Congo to provide information about possible illegal uranium mining in the African nation, BBC News reported today (see GSN, March 23). The agency is concerned about reports of possible illegal mining at the supposedly closed Shinkolobwe uranium mine in the southeastern section of the country, an agency spokeswoman said. The mine has previously been used to produce uranium for the United States during World War II, according to BBC News. “We’re very concerned. Congo is obliged to report any uranium mining activities as well as exports,” said agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming. “We are of course aware of the turbulent situation in terms of security and political situation in the region, we’re aware that the government may not itself be fully aware of the activities ongoing in some parts of the country,” she said (BBC News, March 25). Back to top       Russian Nuclear Regulatory Agency Found Violations in More Than Half of Inspections Last Year The Russian State Nuclear Regulatory agency found violations in more than half of the 299 inspections its conducted last year of physical protection measures at Russian nuclear sites, Bellona reported yesterday (see GSN, March 24). Agency head Andrey Malyshev said late last month that the agency found 175 violations during its 2003 inspections, according to Bellona. In 2002 and 2003, the agency registered only one class A violation that led to overexposure of testing operators, Malyshev said (Bellona, March 24). Back to top       Saint Kitts and Nevis Signs Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty The Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Tuesday, bringing the number of signatories in Latin America and the Caribbean to 27, according to the CTBT Organization (see GSN, Jan. 13). To date, 171 countries have joined the treaty and 109 have ratified it, including 32 of the 44 nations whose ratifications are necessary for the treaty to enter into force (CTBT Organization release, March 24). Back to top       Radar Malfunction Delays USAF Missile Launch The U.S. Air Force yesterday postponed indefinitely the test launch of an unarmed Minuteman 3 ICBM after a radar tracking device malfunctioned, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported (see GSN, Sept. 15, 2003). Officials were investigating the malfunction, according to Vandenberg Air Force Base spokeswoman Maj. Stacee Bako. The long-range missile was to be launched from the California base to a missile range on the Marshall Islands in a routine test (San Diego Union-Tribune, March 24). Back to top

Army Plague Vaccine Looks Promising A plague vaccine developed by the U.S. Army was shown to be effective in a new experiment attempting to incorporate “real world” conditions, the Billings Gazette reported today (see GSN, Feb. 19). Researchers at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont., replicated a natural infection process by transmitting the disease from fleas to mice. Scientists normally test vaccines by directly injecting an inoculated subject with the pathogen, but natural transmission of plague is not so straightforward, said Joseph Hinnebusch, the lead researcher of the experiment (Jennifer McKee, Billings Gazette, March 25). The new vaccine was invented at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., and proved 100-percent effective in the Rocky Mountain study, according to the National Institutes of Health. The new research showed that the vaccine worked “in a real-world context,” Hinnebusch said in an NIH press release. He said an older vaccine, available until the mid-1990s, is no longer manufactured due to multiple side effects and its short-term effectiveness. He said development of an effective plague vaccine is a high priority. “Two factors — the threat of antibiotic-resistant plague and the possible use of plague by bioterrorists — have the public health system scrambling to come up with an effective vaccine and alternative treatments,” Hinnebusch said. “Plague has been used as a bioweapon before and it could be again,” he added (National Institutes of Health Release, March 24). The use of plague as a weapon has a long history, beginning with the Tartars’ siege of the Ukrainian port city of Kaffa in 1346, when the invaders hurled their plague-infested dead over the city walls, forcing it to surrender. In 1422 the Lithuanian Prince Coribut flung plague-stricken bodies plus 2,000 cartloads of excrement into enemy troops at the Battle of Carolstein. In 1710, Russian troops flung the corpses of plague victims over the city walls of Reval during Russia’s war with Sweden. More recently, Japan used plague bacteria, including biological bombs, on China during World War II (ABCNews.com, Oct. 8, 2001). Back to top

Anniston Chemical Depot Completes Destruction of Half of Nerve-Agent Rockets The Anniston Army Depot in Alabama has destroyed half of its stockpile of M55 rockets filled with GB or nerve agent, also called sarin, the Cleburne News reported today (see GSN, March 4). “As of noon today, the [Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility] team has safely, completely and irreversibly destroyed more than 21,300 rockets filled with the nerve agent GB,” said Timothy Garrett, site project manager. “This truly significant milestone means that we have reduced the risk of danger from storing chemical weapons in this community by nearly 12 percent,” he added. Rocket disposal work began on Aug. 9, 2003 (Cleburne News, March 25). Back to top       VX Neutralization Study Misrepresented CDC Position, Agency Says Some details of a DuPont report on its VX nerve agent neutralization plan misrepresented concerns raised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Delaware News Journal reported today (see GSN, March 24). The U.S. Army released a document late yesterday indicating that the CDC had raised concerns earlier this year regarding possible health risks associated with the DuPont disposal plan. A more recent announcement had indicated that the CDC approved all aspects of the plan. “Our involvement was taken out of context,” said Jennifer Sarginson, a spokeswoman for the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health The complaint prompted Army officials to announce late yesterday that DuPont would reword its summary of the plan. “We can understand where folks may get the impression that the CDC looked at all 350 pages,” said Col. Jesse Barber, alternative technologies and approaches project manager for the Army Chemical Materials Agency. “They’re not expert in every area,” he added. A Delaware environmental group said the incident deals a major blow to the project. “This is crippling,” said Alan Muller, head of Green Delaware. “The CDC identified an overwhelming number of problems,” he added. Barber said the project was studied by three other researchers and would not be affected by the CDC complaint. DuPont engineer Todd Owens called the incident a “miscommunication” (Jeff Montgomery, Delaware News Journal, March 25). Back to top

Japan Needs Pre-Emptive Strike Ability, Agency Says Japan needs to develop a pre-emptive strike capability to help ward off potential North Korean ballistic missile and nuclear threats, the Japanese Defense Research Center said in a report released yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 15, 2003). The report is expected to face criticism because Japan’s constitution prohibits the use of Japanese force overseas, Dong-A Ilbo reported. The report says that North Korea could have an operational uranium-based nuclear weapons program by next year. The communist nation, along with China and Russia, could also launch ballistic missile attacks against Japan, the report states. “Without any other means to wipe out these intimidations if the enemy starts assaulting, we should be equipped with devices to get rid of these intimidations such as missile posts in enemy territory,” the report says (Won-Jae Park, Dong-A Ilbo, March 25).   Back to top

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