King Abdullah II of Jordan (shown in a February photo) issued a letter last week praising his country’s counterterrorism authorities for foiling a plot to use a chemical bomb and poison gas to attack sites including a Jordanian intelligence service building and the U.S. Embassy in Amman (AFP photo/Fabian Matzerath). Suspected Terrorists Reportedly Planned Attacks in Jordan Suspected terrorists arrested during the last few weeks planned attacks with a chemical bomb and poison gas in Jordan that could have killed thousands, Associated Press reported today (see GSN, April 16). Targets for the simultaneous attacks included the U.S. Embassy in Amman, other foreign diplomatic missions, the Jordanian prime minister’s office, a Jordanian intelligence facility and civilian targets, according to officials. The chemical bomb attack on the intelligence service could have killed up to 20,000 people, the officials said. ..Full Story

North Korean Leader Meets With Chinese President North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrived in China today where he is expected to discuss his country’s nuclear programs and other issues with Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, April 16)...Full Story

Group Calls for BWC Monitoring Panel By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A panel of scientists is needed to monitor development of biological agents that could be used as weapons, Britain’s Royal Society states in a paper to be submitted today at a U.N. Foundation conference (see GSN, April 13)...Full Story

	Monday, April 19, 2004

North Korean Leader Meets With Chinese President North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrived in China today where he is expected to discuss his country’s nuclear programs and other issues with Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, April 16). The North Korean leader rarely leaves his country, so the four-day visit has fueled speculation that Pyongyang could make a dramatic move to end its diplomatic and economic isolation. “This is a sign that North Korea is preparing for something important on both fronts — the nuclear program and economic reforms,” said Paik Hak Soon, a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute in South Korea (Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times, April 19). Meanwhile, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said Sunday that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who traveled to Asia last week and presented new evidence that North Korea has nuclear weapons, is “mentally deranged,” Agence France-Presse reported. The spokesman said Cheney’s attempt to link North Korea to al-Qaeda was “an expression of total ignorance and nothing but a far-fetched attempt to justify” Washington’s hostility toward Pyongyang. North Korea “has no idea of dealing with the U.S. any longer if the latter insists on the disgusting CVID (complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of all nuclear programs),” he added (Agence France-Presse/ABC News Online, April 19). Back to top       Pakistani Nuclear Scientist Made Visits to Uranium-Rich African Countries Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan made multiple trips to several uranium-rich African countries, Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, April 15). Khan and his entourage used a hotel the scientist funded in Timbuktu as a Sahara Desert base to travel to Chad, Morocco, Mali, Sudan, Nigeria and Niger. The last four countries have known or suspected uranium deposits, according to Jon Wolfsthal, a nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The two obvious possibilities are he was looking to secure supplies of uranium for Pakistan or to line up potential suppliers for his customers,” Wolfsthal said. The trips continued as late as February 2002, a year after his nuclear network was reportedly closed down, AP said (Harris/Knickmeyer, AP/Washington Times, April 17). Back to top       Nuclear Whistleblower Wanted to Destroy Reactor Mordechai Vanunu, nearing the end of an 18-year prison term for giving a London newspaper details of Israel’s nuclear program, said he wanted to “destroy the reactor” and acted “for the world” in an interview to be aired tonight on Israeli television, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, April 14). The Moroccan-born Vanunu, a former technician at Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant, said, “I am neither a traitor nor a spy,” during an interrogation by Israeli security agents. “I only wanted the world to know what was happening” at the plant, he added. “Why did the world perceive me as a hero or appreciate what I did — except for Israel?” he asked. “Just like they destroyed the Iraqi reactor I want them to destroy the Israeli reactor,” he said in reference to Israel’s destruction of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear plant during a 1981 air raid. Vanunu is widely perceived as a traitor by the Israeli public for leaking the Dimona details and for converting to Christianity, according to Agence France-Presse. Israel has imposed security restrictions that would prevent Vanunu from leaving the country and from communicating with foreigners, but many foreign supporters are expected to attend his release from Shikma prison Wednesday (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 19). Back to top       Pakistan Continues Detention of Officials Accused of Leaking Nuclear Technology Four men associated with Khan Research Laboratories and accused of leaking nuclear technology will remain in custody for at least three more months, Hi Pakistan reported today (see GSN, Feb. 12). The Pakistani Supreme Court issued the extension at the government’s request. Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said Sunday the government sought the additional time for further questioning of two scientists, Muhammad Farooq and Nazeer Ahmad, and two former army officers, Sajawal Khan and Islamul Haq (Hi Pakistan, April 19). Back to top       IAEA Will Consider Code of Conduct for Nuclear Research Reactors in September The International Atomic Energy Agency said it will consider a code of conduct establishing “best practice” guidelines for licensing, construction and operation of research reactors during its general conference in September (see GSN, March 14). Research reactors were not included in the Convention on Nuclear Safety in the 1990s. Increased interest in such a code was partly the result of fears of terrorist threats following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Ken Brockman, IAEA director of nuclear installation safety, said in a press release (IAEA release, April 14). Back to top       Modernized Russian Nuclear Sub Set for Sea Trials The modernized nuclear submarine Dmitry Donskoi is set for sea trials and is expected to return to active service in Russia’s Northern Fleet this year, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, April 14). Built in 1982 and one of Russia’s largest, Akula-class nuclear submarines, the Donskoi is armed with 20 ballistic missile launchers. There are only two Akulas now in commission (ITAR-Tass, April 15). Back to top

Group Calls for BWC Monitoring Panel By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A panel of scientists is needed to monitor development of biological agents that could be used as weapons, Britain’s Royal Society states in a paper to be submitted today at a U.N. Foundation conference (see GSN, April 13). The academy also says research proposals and papers should be filtered if “there is a tangible cause for concern in terms of harmful application,” and that nations should strengthen laws against development of biological weapons. “There is a need for the scientific community, governments and relevant agencies to be fully aware of the potential of scientific advances both in enabling the illegal development of more lethal weapons and in developing more effective countermeasures to the use of such weapons,” according to the society. “The need to underpin the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is emphasized, because of the use in biomedical science of potentially harmful pathogens and toxins and the risk of this research being misused in bioterrorist attacks,” it added. The paper, The Individual and Collective Roles Scientists Can Play in Strengthening International Treaties, will be presented today during a discussion on biosecurity sponsored by the U.N. Foundation, National Academies and Nuclear Threat Initiative. Monitoring weapons of mass destruction requires access to scientists with expertise in the cutting-edge technology often used to develop those weapons, the paper states. While organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons gather such personnel to watch over nuclear and chemical arms treaties, there is no corresponding body for the Biological Weapons Convention. A BWC experts advisory panel would be designed to meet two key needs, said Royal Society spokesman Bob Ward — keeping policymakers aware of the latest developments in biological science that could be related to weaponry and keeping up with technology for detecting biological weapons. It would be up to the 151 convention member states to decide if they wanted a panel with investigative authority, Ward said. Efforts to create such an organization died in 2001 when the United States refused to sign the protocol establishing a set of treaty compliance provisions. “We remain hopeful that the United States will move toward agreement on the terms of a protocol,” Ward said. Responsibility for prohibiting the spread of biological weapons also lies with scientists themselves and with world leaders, according to the Royal Society. There should be discussion aimed at organizing more rigorous codes of conduct for scientific practice, the paper states. These could range from basic prohibitions against plagiarism or conflicts of interest to proposals more specific to weapons of mass destruction, such as rules for security and handling of biological, chemical or nuclear materials. Research proposals should be filtered out “where the potential harm of publication outweighs the potential societal benefits,” a Royal Society press release states. Research sponsors and scientific journal editors should make that determination “on a case-by-case basis,” and should avoid setting up a broad vetting process for research proposals, the organization added. National and international laws on bioweapons must also be strengthened to create “an enforceable code of practice,” the paper states. The Royal Society will publish a report Wednesday on detection and decontamination of chemical and biological agents. [EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by National Journal Group.] Back to top

Suspected Terrorists Reportedly Planned Attacks in Jordan Suspected terrorists arrested during the last few weeks planned attacks with a chemical bomb and poison gas in Jordan that could have killed thousands, Associated Press reported today (see GSN, April 16). Targets for the simultaneous attacks included the U.S. Embassy in Amman, other foreign diplomatic missions, the Jordanian prime minister’s office, a Jordanian intelligence facility and civilian targets, according to officials. The chemical bomb attack on the intelligence service could have killed up to 20,000 people, the officials said.  The plot was foiled by arrests in March and earlier this month of conspirators in a cell linked to al-Qaeda, they said. The arrests were made after suspects entered Jordan from Syria in at least three vehicles carrying explosives, detonators and other bomb-making materials, AP reported. Jordanian King Abdullah II published a letter last week praising the authorities who led the effort. Failure to uncover the plot would have resulted in “a crime that would have been unprecedented in the country in terms of the size of explosives mounted on the vehicles and the methods of carrying out the attacks or the civilian locations chosen,” the letter said. Back to top       International Chemical Inspectors Briefly Turned Away at U.S. Chemical Manufacturing Plant A Charleston, S.C., chemical company denied access two weeks ago to international inspectors verifying its compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, but U.S. officials stepped in to open the plant’s doors Wednesday. An official from Rhodia SA mistakenly objected to the routine inspection, according to another company official. Keeping out international inspectors “is not company policy,” said Mike Duffy, Rhodia’s Charleston plant manager. “In fact, my instructions are to grant voluntary access,” he said Thursday. After learning that the inspectors had been turned away, U.S. officials went to federal court to obtain a warrant to force the inspectors’ admittance. The inspection began Wednesday and was expected to be completed Friday, according to the Charleston Post and Courier. The plant produces phosphorous-based chemicals for agricultural, pharmaceutical and other industries. Under the convention, which bans the possession or manufacture of chemical weapons, such chemicals are considered possible precursors to weapons. The inspectors planned to verify that the plant was obeying the terms of the treaty and providing accurate records regarding its chemicals (John McDermott, Charleston Post and Courier, April 16). Back to top       VX Treatment Plan Called Premature by State Regulators; Army Rejects Governors’ Objections Delaware and New Jersey regulators said Thursday a plan for monitoring disposal of wastewater byproduct from neutralized VX nerve agent is “premature,” while the U.S. Army’s disposal project manager rejected a letter of objection from the two states’ governors Friday for inclusion in the public comment on the matter, the Delaware News Journal reported last week (see GSN, April 15). The letter from Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner and New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey was addressed to the secretary of the Army instead of the disposal project record in Indiana, said Army Col. Jesse Barber, project manager. Barber said the governors’ concerns will be addressed, but that DuPont already has the clearances necessary for treatment and disposal of the VX byproduct. Army officials are now interested in assessing impacts and accepting comments on the plan to transport the waste from Indiana to New Jersey, he said. “If anyone thinks the governors’ letter to the secretary would be considered a submission against the FONSI [finding of no significant impact for the transportation plan] that’s a bit of a stretch,” Barber said (Jeff Montgomery, Delaware News Journal, April 17). On Thursday, Delaware and New Jersey regulators called a DuPont proposal for an independent third party to monitor pollution from the waste disposal site in New Jersey “premature,” the News Journal reported. “It’s contrary to our position that we don’t want the project to go forward as proposed,” said Kevin Donnelly, water resources director for Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. “It’s premature to talk about monitoring after the fact,” added Sam Wolfe, deputy commissioner for regulation at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. “What we need is to assess the environmental impact before DuPont starts accepting” the wastewater for treatment (Jeff Montgomery, Delaware News Journal, April 16). DuPont says the New Jersey facility can safely and effectively treat the wastewater, according to a study completed in March, NJ.com reported. “Dupont has done the most extensive testing on the hydrolysate than any company I know of,” Barber said. “Their studies to me, to the Army, says this commercial industry can safely and effectively do it, and you have found a top-notch company that is willing to do it, while at while time maintaining the safety of the public,” he added (Erin Boyle, NJ.com, April 19).   Back to top

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