Libya, led by Col. Muammar Qadhafi, is expected to receive cautionary praise from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing board for its nuclear transparency when the board begins a quarterly meeting Monday in Vienna (AFP photo/Fethi Belaid). IAEA Members Preparing Libya, Iran Resolutions With a quarterly board meeting scheduled to begin Monday, member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency are discussing how to address the results of agency investigations into Iranian and Libyan nuclear programs, Reuters reported today (see GSN, March 3). Both nations have recently disclosed formerly secret nuclear programs and the agency has uncovered additional, undisclosed nuclear technology in Iran...Full Story

Libya Destroys Part of Chemical Weapons Arsenal Libya has completed the first phase of the destruction of its chemical weapons arsenal by eliminating thousands of unfilled munitions, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced today (see GSN, Feb. 26)...Full Story

U.S. Works to “Immunize” Buildings Against WMD Attack By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — As the FBI scrambles to figure out who has been sending ricin to U.S. government facilities, scientists are placing new emphasis on the development of systems to make buildings “immune” to biological and chemical agents (see GSN, Feb. 24)...Full Story

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Approves IAEA Additional Protocol The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted unanimously to approve a resolution ratifying the Additional Protocol to the U.S. nuclear safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (see GSN, Feb. 13)...Full Story

Syria Sees Sanctions as Penalty for Iraq War Stance By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Syria views a U.S. law that imposes economic sanctions on Damascus as punishment for its opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 20)...Full Story

	Thursday, March 4, 2004

France Faces Terrorist Threat to Railway System An unknown terrorist or terrorist group has demanded more than $5 million to keep from detonating bombs along France’s rail lines, French officials said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 17, 2002). French President Jacques Chirac and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy have received a series of threatening letters since mid-December, according to the New York Times. The letters were signed “AZF,” but there is no indication if that represents the name of a terrorist group or an individual’s initials, the Times reported. AZF is also the name of a Toulouse chemical factory that exploded in 2001 — an incident that French investigators ruled was an industrial accident, according to the Times (see GSN, Jan. 17, 2002). French police have said there is so far no known link between the factory and whoever wrote the letters. One letter sent by AZF led police to a sophisticated bomb placed under a railroad bridge near the central town of Folles, according to the Times. In another letter, AZF described itself as a “pressure group with a terrorist character,” according to an Interior Ministry statement. “All of the police and gendarme services are mobilized in this affair,” the Interior Ministry said. “They are seeking to unravel it with one sole imperative: the security of France,” it added (Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, March 4). Back to top       Terrorism Exercise a Success Because It Demonstrated Flaws, Official Says A drill jointly conducted last month by the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) succeeded because it exposed flaws in federal, state and local agencies ability to respond to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, an official said Monday (see GSN, Feb. 13). The “United Defense ’04” exercise, the first to be jointly conducted by the Northern Command and NORAD, was held from Feb. 19 to Feb. 25 and involved scenarios such as a nuclear threat and a hurricane in Texas, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. More than 50 government agencies in Texas, Alaska, Colorado, Virginia and Washington, D.C., participated in the exercise. Marine Col. Gene Pino said the results of the exercise would rate a six or a seven on a 10-point scale. He did not discuss details of the flaws in the response. “Our job is to empower this nation to protect its citizens … and I think this exercise significantly helped us do that, and it made all the federal agencies that participated better capable of doing that,” Pino said. The next exercise, set to involve a chemical disaster scenario in California, is scheduled to be held in August, the Gazette reported (Pam Zubeck, Colorado Springs Gazette, March 2). Back to top

U.S. Works to “Immunize” Buildings Against WMD Attack By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — As the FBI scrambles to figure out who has been sending ricin to U.S. government facilities, scientists are placing new emphasis on the development of systems to make buildings “immune” to biological and chemical agents (see GSN, Feb. 24). The 2001 anthrax mailings and subsequent ricin scares have cast a spotlight on the potential for a devastating indoor biological or chemical attack. Although scientists say they can do little ― short of supplying gas masks ― to protect those in the immediate vicinity when a dangerous agent is released, systems to protect people in the rest of the building are approaching 100 percent effectiveness. The focus is on developing “immune building” technologies to prevent the spread of dangerous agents through heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. “The most likely approach that would be used by terrorists would be to employ an aerosolizer to release the agents either into the ventilation duct or into general areas of the building,” Penn State University immune building expert Wladyslaw Kowalski wrote in a recent paper. As a result, experts say, more and more buildings are equipping their HVAC systems with sensors to detect a biological or chemical attack, as well as with filters, airflow-diversion technology and neutralizing equipment to prevent the agents from circulating throughout the building. Chief Executive Officer Lee Hadin of Medical Air Solutions, which sells systems mainly to hospitals, said the capabilities of such technology have increased “logarithmically” over the past several years. Despite the pace of research, improvements in building immunity do not appear to be high on the Bush administration’s crowded homeland security priority list. An outline of the administration’s major bioterrorism preparedness programs, delivered last October by Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Marburger, included no mention of improving measures to protect buildings against internal attacks. Congress Mum on HVAC System as Pentagon Pursues “Active” Defenses The recent ricin incident in the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) again underscored the appeal of congressional targets to potential attackers, but it is difficult to say with certainty what types of technology have been installed in congressional HVAC systems. Both the Capitol Police and the Architect of the Capitol refuse even to acknowledge the presence of HVAC-based defenses in congressional structures, but press reports and interviews with experts suggest all top U.S. government targets are protected by systems that involve sensors, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters and ultraviolet radiation that neutralizes pathogens. Kowalski said the systems probably provide adequate protection against recirculation of dangerous agents, but Bio-Defense Research Group Chief Executive Officer Preston McGee said there could be room for improvement at federal buildings. Across the Potomac River, an elite Defense Department research group has undertaken an Immune Building Program, seeking ways to protect military installations against internal attacks. Under the aegis of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Special Projects Office, the researchers are seeking to “make buildings far less attractive targets” by reducing the “effectiveness of attack via dynamic response of HVAC (and other) infrastructure,” according to a 2002 lecture by the office’s director, Amy Alving. The office is gearing up for a full-scale demonstration next year of the results of its work. The system, according to Alving’s 2002 presentation, uses sensors and HEPA filters during “normal operation,” with “active defenses” ― backup filters, airflow diversion and agent neutralization ― to be used when the sensors indicate an attack may be under way. The program is “developing components, systems and architectures so ‘smart’ HVAC systems, including sensors and neutralization devices, could be used to protect the occupants of the building from attack and isolate the attacked area instead of exacerbating its severity,” DARPA Director Anthony Tether said last March. Use of a “smart” or “active” system, however, could mean running the risk of false negative readings or other forms of sensor failure. Medical Air Solutions’ Hadin said excessive reliance on sensors would be a cause for concern and that officials should instead “assume we’re going to be attacked.” “It would be very dangerous to rely on sensors. That technology has only evolved within the last 16 months and has not risen to the level of efficiency” provided by some filters, Hadin said. McGee, whose group’s product is based on a “passive,” catchall approach that combines several neutralization technologies, also said government facilities should not rely too heavily on sensor-triggered equipment. “I think it’s important that the government consider having a passive system in place that can, in a real-time fashion, neutralize biological and chemical threat agents,” McGee said. Non-HEPA Firms Tout Effectiveness, Low Cost Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, which invented the technology being marketed by Bio-Defense Research Group, first announced last year that it had demonstrated a 100 percent kill rate for bacteria, viruses and spores. The first installations of Path-Away, as Bio-Defense Research Group’s system is called, are about to take place at the laboratory and at a number of undisclosed sites, and the company plans within months to take the unusual step of testing the technology with live agents. McGee said measures used in congressional buildings are unlikely to provide 100 percent protection but that his product would do so. Several other experts said 100 percent neutralization of chemical and biological agents in HVAC systems is technically impossible. Most existing systems let some fraction of 1 percent of agents slip through. A New York company advised by Kowalski, Immune Building Systems, has adopted a somewhat different marketing approach, touting low cost combined with effectiveness that rivals that of expensive HEPA filters. While Bio-Defense Research Group’s system involves no filters, Immune Building Systems’ product combines a neutralization component and non-HEPA filters. The National Air Filtration Association says on its Web site that the large filters are “not practical” because most HVAC systems require additional fan capacity and other adjustments to integrate them. Although many government facilities have HEPA filters in place, most commercial buildings cannot afford to install the filters, Kowalski said. Firms offering non-HEPA systems are hoping that the difficulties associated with the high-efficiency filters will aid their quest for government as well as commercial work. “There has been opposition from a number of folks on the Hill and off the Hill about utilizing historical congressional space to put these large filters and big HVAC systems in,” McGee said. Since Sept. 11, 2001, said Kowalski, immune building efforts have mirrored those in other areas of homeland security, with an initial scramble for maximum security slowly giving way to a more nuanced approach. “There was a rush to be conservative, to provide as much defensive capability as possible for major government buildings. I’m not going to criticize them, because certainly, there are some parts of our government that must be given the ultimate protection, no matter what the cost,” Kowalski said. With its claim of 100 percent effectiveness, compared with the 99.97 percent rate the National Air Filtration Association says is typical for filters, Bio-Defense Research Group is banking on a continued demand for the “ultimate protection” Kowalski cited. Recalling reports that billions of spores were present in some of the 2001 anthrax mailings, McGee suggested even a small improvement could save lives. “If I can only kill 99 percent of those spores,” he said, “that means I have 1 percent of 1 billion left. That’s 10 million spores that I have left. That’s a lot of spores left.  You can kill a lot of people.” Back to top       Syria Sees Sanctions as Penalty for Iraq War Stance By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Syria views a U.S. law that imposes economic sanctions on Damascus as punishment for its opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 20). During a speech at Georgetown University, Moustapha repeatedly criticized the Syria Accountability Act — a U.S. law that establishes economic sanctions against Damascus if it fails to end its alleged WMD activities and official support for terrorism. He also said that he expects further difficulties in U.S.-Syrian relations because of this year’s U.S. presidential election. The Syria Accountability Act, signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush in December, bans U.S. exports of military and dual-use items to Syria and requires the president to impose at least two additional sanctions from a list of six included in the law. The additional sanctions include such a ban on U.S. exports to Syria and a downgrading of U.S. diplomatic representation in Damascus. The act also includes a provision to allow the president to waive the penalties if they would interfere with U.S. national security interests. While the dual-use ban has taken effect, the Bush administration is still considering which of the additional sanctions in the law to impose. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last month, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the administration would make its decision on fully implementing the act “in the near future.” In an interview published earlier this week in the Gulf News, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage suggested that Bush might exercise the act’s waiver and not enact any of the remaining sanctions. Armitage said Syria had made progress in preventing militants from crossing its border into Iraq and had aided U.S. efforts against al-Qaeda. “As we approach May, we will see if President [Bashar] Assad and his colleagues want to have a more congenial relations with the U.S.,” Armitage said. “We don’t want to have a hostile relationship with them; we don’t wish them ill,” he added. In his remarks here yesterday, Moustapha charged that the act was intended to punish Syria for its opposition to last year’s invasion of Iraq, even though Damascus cooperated “till the very last day” with the United States and joined with the rest of the U.N. Security Council in approving U.N. Resolution 1441, which threatened “serious consequences” if Iraq did not give up its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Moustapha also said that following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Damascus provided the United States with large amounts of information on al-Qaeda. He claimed that Syria’s assistance helped to prevent seven attacks against U.S. targets. “The sort of gratitude we’ve gotten for this is the Syria Accountability Act,” said Moustapha, who has served as ambassador in the United States for less than a year. A spokesman for U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), one of the act’s chief sponsors in the House of Representatives, yesterday dismissed Moustapha’s criticisms as “baseless,” saying the bill was intended to hold Syria responsible for its actions.  In addition, the bill was first introduced in Congress before Syria’s position on Iraq was known, Gary Meltz told Global Security Newswire. “Syria’s attempts at damage control are ineffective,” Meltz said. While saying that Syria is not “an enemy” of the United States, Moustapha yesterday predicted that relations between Washington and Damascus would remain strained, at least in the near future. He blamed the lingering difficulties in the relationship, in part, on the fact that this is a presidential election year in the United States, saying that at such a time the administration becomes more “vulnerable” to “special interests.” Even so, Moustapha said, Syria continues to seek improved relations with the United States. “It’s not easy, but it’s doable,” he said. Back to top       Canada Joins International Science and Technology Center Canada today joined the International Science and Technology Center in Moscow, an international nonproliferation organization intended to aid former Soviet WMD scientists in conducting peaceful research, according the Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Department (see GSN, Jan. 10). As a member, Canada plans to provide $13 million annually to help fund projects conducted by the center. The funding is part of Canada’s pledge to the Group of Eight’s $20 billion Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which was launched in 2002 (see GSN, Nov. 14, 2003). Canada would also occupy a seat on the center’s Governing Board and would participate in its Science Advisory Committee.  “Canada’s accession to the center will allow us to contribute effectively to an organization that builds on international cooperation to enhance international safety and security,” Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said in a statement (Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade Department release, March 4). Under the G-8 partnership, Canada has so far agreed to provide $739 million over 10 years to fund nonproliferation projects in the former Soviet Union, including: *         $23 million for chemical weapons destruction; *         $24 million for nuclear submarine dismantlement; and *         $49 million for plutonium disposition efforts. According to the Strengthening the Global Partnership Project, Canada’s pledge to the effort is the second smallest among G-8 members, ranking only ahead of Japan (Strengthening the Global Partnership Project release, March 4). Back to top       Military Explores Greater Role in Maritime Security By Chris Strohm Government Executive WASHINGTON — The commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command said recently that the difference between military and civilian responsibilities for maritime security is a “gray area” that might require more military involvement (see GSN, Jan. 28) NORAD is exploring options to provide additional support to the Coast Guard for handling maritime security operations, said Air Force Gen. Ralph Eberhart, who also is in charge of Northern Command, during a conference last week. “My intuition is that we need to take NORAD to the next level, that we in fact need to include some sort of maritime piece to this and probably some civil support,” Eberhart said. “Obviously, we’re doing the analysis and then we’ll develop” recommendations. Northern Command is responsible for the Defense Department’s homeland defense operations, such as defending against a ballistic missile attack, while civilian federal agencies are responsible for homeland security, such as securing transportation infrastructure. The Coast Guard has both a civilian role and operates as a specialized service under the Navy in time of war or when directed by the president. Eberhart questioned what would happen if the Coast Guard approached a civilian ship and discovered that it had a cruise missile on board with a weapon of mass destruction. He said the Coast Guard is prepared for noncompliance when boarding ships, but not outright opposition. “It’s fine with me if the Coast Guard has the lead, but we ought to have some capabilities on its way in formation with it that can deal with an opposed boarding once we get there,” he said. “Or, in the worst case, if they pull the tarp off a cruise missile and they’re going to launch it, we can neutralize the ship.” A Coast Guard spokesman said Wednesday that he was not aware of any negotiations to augment the Coast Guard with military capabilities. He said standard maritime security procedures do not involve military assets, adding that the Coast Guard is capable of handling almost any situation, including an opposed boarding. The Coast Guard is in constant communication with the military, he added, and would call for assistance if needed. Eberhart said the possibility of expanding NORAD’s role in maritime security was raised last year in discussions between the United States and Canada. He said a planning group is exploring the possibility of creating a “naval NORAD.” “If [the threat] is of a nature that no one can deal with it other than the military, then we ought to not hesitate to use the military to counter that threat, protect our citizens and protect our infrastructure,” Eberhart said. “It’s kind of like the issue of a hijacked airliner,” he added. “You get into debates all the time that this isn’t a homeland defense issue, this is a homeland security and law enforcement issue, and so the military ought not to have any role. My response is very simple. If not the military, then who?” Back to top       Tenet to Defend Iraq Assessments Before Senate Panel CIA Director George Tenet is expected to defend U.S. prewar assessments of Iraq’s WMD capabilities today during a closed hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, according to the Washington Times (see GSN, March 3). The committee is conducting an inquiry into U.S. intelligence on Iraq, and Tenet asked to testify last year as a way to “influence the process” of the committee’s work, according to a Senate aide. Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said last week that the panel has been at work for eight months and would produce two reports A draft report has criticized analyses prepared by the CIA and other agencies before the war regarding Iraq’s potential connections to terrorist organizations (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, March 4). Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that the CIA continues to conduct a number of operations in Iraq, including aiding the search for alleged weapons of mass destruction, penetrating the insurgency there and training a new Iraqi intelligence service (Dana Priest, Washington Post, March 4). Back to top

IAEA Members Preparing Libya, Iran Resolutions With a quarterly board meeting scheduled to begin Monday, member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency are discussing how to address the results of agency investigations into Iranian and Libyan nuclear programs, Reuters reported today (see GSN, March 3). Both nations have recently disclosed formerly secret nuclear programs and the agency has uncovered additional, undisclosed nuclear technology in Iran. Diplomats are drafting a resolution criticizing Iran while at the same time noting what some believe to be greater cooperation from Tehran in recent weeks.  U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton confirmed yesterday that the United States would not pursue a resolution charging Iran with “noncompliance” with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, an act that would refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council. However, he said Washington remains concerned that “the Iranians are still trying to conceal a clandestine weapons program.” The United States is instead pushing for the harshest possible criticism of Iran in the document, having long accepted the lack of support among other member states for a noncompliance resolution, according to Reuters. On Feb. 24, Germany, France and the United Kingdom promised they would block passage of any resolution on Iran if Tehran agreed to full cooperation, including an end to all uranium enrichment activities (see GSN, Feb. 27).  Several diplomats told Reuters that the European view was not realistic. “Not to have a resolution on Iran would be to ignore the IAEA report,” said a Western diplomat.  Iran has been lobbying to have the issue completely removed from Monday’s agenda. Libya Meanwhile, the United States and the United Kingdom plan to co-sponsor a resolution that would praise Libya for renouncing all WMD programs, but would still notify the Security Council of Libya’s past NPT noncompliance. Diplomats said the notification would be “pro forma” and would avoid calling for sanctions due to Libya’s cooperation. Diplomats also said Libya has been instrumental in providing international inspectors with details about a global nuclear black market that also supplied Iran and North Korea with technology (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters/Yahoo!News, March 4). Back to top       U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Approves IAEA Additional Protocol The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted unanimously to approve a resolution ratifying the Additional Protocol to the U.S. nuclear safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (see GSN, Feb. 13). The ratification resolution is now ready to be considered by the full Senate. If ratified, the Additional Protocol would give the IAEA the authority to conduct some supplementary activity in the United States. The measure was first signed by the United States in 1998 and U.S. President George W. Bush submitted the protocol to the Senate in May 2002 (U.S. Senator Richard Lugar release, March 4). Back to top       U.S. Losing Patience With North Korea, Officials Say A directive from President George W. Bush — instructing U.S. delegates at last week’s six-nation talks on North Korea to make clear the administration’s waning patience in the search for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff — halted work on a joint statement laying out the plan to resolve the situation, according to U.S. officials (see GSN, March 3). Bush sent the instructions to the U.S. team on the third day of negotiations last Friday in Beijing, after China attempted to accommodate a North Korean demand to include a reference to the “hostile policy” of the United States in a final conference statement. Talks on the two-page statement essentially ended following the U.S. response, the Washington Post reported. China then attempted to draft a blander statement in which the parties would commit only to further talks, but the North Korean delegation pulled away at the last minute. Bush has said publicly for months leading to the talks that the United States has no plans for a military attack on North Korea. U.S. officials are now saying that Bush’s instructions to his delegation were to indicate that his support for continued talks is tied to Pyongyang’s commitment to a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of all nuclear activities, leaving all other options on the table, according to the Post. U.S. officials said they described in detail a “three steps” approach the United States was willing to take if North Korea agreed to nuclear dismantlement. During the first stage, Washington would discuss multilateral security guarantees, but normalized relations between Washington and Pyongyang would not resume until the programs were nearly dismantled (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, March 4).   Back to top       Nigerian Military Asserts, Then Denies, Interest in Acquiring Pakistani Nuclear Technology Nigeria today rescinded claims by its Defense Ministry that Pakistan’s top military officer yesterday offered to help the African nation acquire nuclear power (see GSN, Feb. 4). The confusion was caused by a “typographical error” in the Defense Ministry statement, a department spokesman said (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, March 4). The original statement indicated the offer was made during a meeting in the Nigerian capital of Abuja between Gen. Muhammad Aziz Khan, chairman of the Pakistani joint chiefs of staff, and Nigerian Defense Minister Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. According to the ministry, Khan said “his country is working out the dynamics of how it can assist Nigeria’s armed forces to strengthen its military capability and to acquire nuclear power” (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, March 4). Pakistan quickly denied that it had offered to aid Nigeria, according to the Associated Press. “This is a baseless story and a conspiracy to hurt our image,” Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said (Gilbert Da Costa, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 4). Back to top       U.S., Russia to Exchange Risk-Reduction Officers The United States and Russia plan to exchange watch officers at their respective nuclear risk reduction centers for the first time beginning this month, the U.S. State Department announced yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 28). The risk reduction centers were established by a 1987 U.S.-Soviet agreement to allow the real-time communications needed to implement arms control treaties. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, centers have been established in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. Under the planned exchange, the U.S. Nuclear Risk Reduction Center would host two Russian watch officers from March 22-26 — the first time Russian officers will visit the U.S. center. The Russian center would then host two U.S. watch officers next month.    “We view this as an excellent opportunity to improve the working relationship and operational effectiveness of the reciprocal flow of treaty data and notifications, as well as to build more openness into our relationship with Russia,” the State Department said in a statement (U.S. State Department release, March 3). For more information see: NRRC fact sheet (U.S. State Department). Back to top       Straw, Musharraf Discuss Nuclear Nonproliferation British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf discussed nuclear nonproliferation issues today during a meeting at Pakistani army headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistani officials said (see GSN, March 1). Details of the one-hour meeting were unavailable, Agence France-Presse reported. A senior Pakistani official said earlier, though, that Straw and Musharraf would discuss Pakistan’s internal probe into nuclear transfers conducted by Pakistani scientists. Straw arrived yesterday in Pakistan for a three-day visit. He is later expected to meet with Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, officials said (Agence France-Presse/Khaleej Times, March 4). Back to top       U.S. Air Force Increases Efforts on Long-Range Bomber The U.S. Air Force has created two new offices to study options for a new long-range bomber and expects to be able to field a new system up to 12 years ahead of previous estimates, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, Jan. 26). Last month, the Air Force created the Long Range Strike (LRS) office and an LRS integrated planning team to begin initial work on a new bomber, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley told a House Armed Services subcommittee yesterday. Moseley also told lawmakers that the Air Force expects to begin system development and demonstration of a new bomber in 2012-2015, and to field a new system in 2025-2030. The Air Force previously indicated that it would not field a new bomber until 2037, Aerospace Daily reported. It is unlikely that any new bomber would be hypersonic, according to Aerospace Daily (see GSN, Jan. 22). In his testimony, Moseley cited studies saying that such technology has not developed enough to allow a 2012 program start. He also said the Air Force is considering adapting an existing aircraft, such as the bomber version of the F/A-22 Raptor, to serve as a transition between the current bomber fleet and a new system. In addition, the Air Force plans to spend more than $600 million in fiscal 2005, and a total of more than $3 billion through fiscal 2009, to improve existing nuclear-capable B-1s, B-2s and B-52s, Moseley said (see GSN, Feb. 18; Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, March 4). During a conference held last month in Washington by the Heritage Foundation, U.S. Defense Department Office of Net Assessment Director Andrew Marshall said the possibility of new threats arising over the next 20 years meant the Pentagon needed to maintain its efforts to develop a new long-range bomber. “Part of the task for our forces and our planning of the goals that we try to foster through our transformation is to keep strong where we are,” Marshall said. “Other countries don’t contest the air; we have the oceans,” he said (Jeremy Feiler, Inside The Pentagon, March 4). Back to top       Russia Continues Work on Indian Nuclear Power Plant A Russian-built nuclear power plant in the Indian town of Kudankulam is expected to be complete in 2007, said a Russian official speaking in New Delhi, the BBC reported today (see GSN, Feb. 18). Russian Deputy Atomic Energy Minister Vladimir Asmolov said Russia is prepared to construct two or more additional nuclear plants in the country, to increase nuclear power generation in India to 20,000 MW by 2020. He said Russia could sign additional nuclear reactor deals with China, Iran and, in the long term, Egypt (BBC Monitoring, March 4). Back to top

U.S. Scientist Released From Ebola Watch A scientist who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus on Feb. 11 was released from quarantine yesterday with no signs of infection (see GSN, Feb. 20). The researcher accidentally stuck herself with a needle while working at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick in Maryland. The scientist was working with mice injected with a weakened form of the virus while researching possible treatments for the deadly disease (Washington Post, March 4). Back to top

Libya Destroys Part of Chemical Weapons Arsenal Libya has completed the first phase of the destruction of its chemical weapons arsenal by eliminating thousands of unfilled munitions, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced today (see GSN, Feb. 26). As of yesterday, Libya had destroyed more than 3,300 unfilled aerial bombs designed to disperse chemical weapons, the agency said. A bulldozer was used to crush the bombs, the organization said.  Libya is now expected to submit a full declaration of its chemical weapons stockpile on Friday, including a plan for the complete destruction of the arsenal, the organization said. “The swift and cooperative spirit of compliance on the part of the Libyan authorities is an encouraging sign that will undoubtedly assist the OPCW to provide impartial verification of their compliance,” the organization’s director general, Rogelio Pfirter, said in a statement (OPCW release, March 4). Back to top       Russia Destroys 20 Metric Tons of Lewisite Russia has completed the destruction of nearly 20 metric tons of lewisite from its stockpile stored at a chemical weapons disposal plant near the city of Gorny, ITAR-Tass reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 6).  The destruction of all 252 metric tons of lewisite at the plant is expected to be completed by the end of next year, at which point the facility will be converted for civilian use (ITAR-Tass/BBC Monitoring, March 3). Back to top       Sarin Leaks Detected at Alabama Chemical Bunker No one was harmed when a small amount of sarin nerve agent seeped out of a weapons bunker at the U.S. Army’s chemical weapons depot in Anniston, Ala., the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 13). The leak was discovered Tuesday during routine inspections of the airtight weapons storage bunker. A spokeswoman at Anniston Chemical Activity, the organization which oversees weapons storage at the facility, said the sarin did not escape the area and that the trace amount was not enough to harm anyone (Washington Times, March 4). Back to top

Taiwan to Buy Six Missile Batteries Within 15 Years Taiwan plans to purchase six Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile interceptor batteries from the United States within the next 15 years, the National Defense Ministry said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 20). The exact costs of the PAC-3 batteries is still being negotiated, but the budget for the purchase is expected to be executed next year, Deputy Defense Minister Chen Chao-min said in a report to the Taiwanese Legislature’s defense committee. All six batteries are expected to be delivered and deployed by 2019, he said (TaiwanNews.com, March 4). Back to top       Lockheed Martin Conducts Successful PAC-3 Test A Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile interceptor successfully destroyed a mock tactical ballistic missile during a test today, U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced (see GSN, March 2). During the test, conducted at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, two PAC-3 interceptors were “rippled-fired” at a Patriot legacy missile modified to represent a short-range ballistic missile, Lockheed Martin said. The target simulated the flight characteristics of a Scud-type missile. “Today’s test provided even more evidence that the PAC-3 missile can protect our forces from ballistic missile attack,” Lockheed Martin Vice President Steve Graham said in a statement. “The success rate of the PAC-3 missile is second-to-none when it comes to air-defense missiles,” he added (Lockheed Martin release, March 4). Back to top

Lawyers Meet With Dirty Bomb Suspect Lawyers for Jose Padilla met yesterday with their client for the first time since he was declared an enemy combatant two years ago after his arrest for suspicion of planning a “dirty bomb” attack in the United States, the Chicago Tribune reported today (see GSN, Feb. 25). Court-appointed attorneys Donna Newman and Andrew Patel said they did not discuss details of the government’s claims against Padilla because the meeting at the Charleston, S.C. naval brig was monitored by Navy officials. “One of the first things we told Mr. Padilla was that there were innumerable things we would love to discuss with him, but we would not be able to because this did not qualify as a confidential discussion,” Patel said (Stevenson Swanson, Chicago Tribune/Philadelphia Inquirer, March 4). Newman said her client seemed upbeat, and that she looks forward to meeting with him again, the Washington Post reported. “He was in very good spirits to finally see someone, but this was not an attorney-client meeting. This was invitation-only, and we were not allowed to ask about the conditions of his confinement,” she said.  “I gave him some newspaper articles about his case, and he was most appreciative. Now I’ll await another government invitation to meet with my client again,” she added (Michael Powell, Washington Post, March 4).     Back to top

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