IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei (left) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Moscow yesterday to discuss nuclear proliferation issues, including Russia’s cooperation with Iran (AFP photo/Maxim Marmur). Iran Admits Razed Site Was Military Research Complex Iran has told visiting international inspectors that a recently razed site at Lavizan had been used for military research but not nuclear weapons activity, Reuters reported today (see GSN, June 28). “The Iranians said it was a former research and development military site and was used as a physics institute, later for biotechnology research ... for medicine,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohammad ElBaradei said today (Reuters, June 29)...Full Story

Iraq Survey Group to Continue Work The coalition unit searching for evidence of Iraq’s alleged prewar WMD efforts will continue its work under the new Iraqi government, a CIA spokesman said yesterday...Full Story

Emergency Crews Inadvertently Spread Anthrax Beyond Capitol Hill During 2001 Mail Attacks Anthrax contamination from the October 2001 mail attacks appears to have been spread farther than was previously reported, Roll Call reported yesterday (see GSN, March 4)...Full Story

	Tuesday, June 29, 2004

NATO Unveils Counterterrorism Measures NATO alliance officials announced a package of counterterrorism measures yesterday during a summit in Istanbul, Turkey, according to the U.S. State Department (see GSN, June 23). Specific measures include: *         Improved intelligence sharing and a review of current intelligence structures; *         Greater ability to respond to assistance requests regarding terrorist attacks — including those involving chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons; *         Better capabilities to defend against terrorist attacks through advanced technologies; *         Larger contributions to Operation Active Endeavor, NATO’s maritime surveillance and interdiction operation in the Mediterranean; *         Increased cooperation with partners and international and regional organizations, including the active pursuit of consultations and exchange of information with the European Union; *         Continuation of robust efforts against terrorism in Afghanistan and the Balkans by helping to create conditions in which terrorism cannot flourish; and *         Assistance in providing protection against terrorism to major events, including use of NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft. In addition, the alliance announced that its arms control and nonproliferation policies are also directed against WMD falling into the hands of terrorists (State Department release, June 28). Back to top

U.S. Resumes Direct Diplomatic Ties With Libya By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — After almost 25 years, the United States yesterday resumed direct diplomatic ties with Libya as part of efforts to improve relations following a Tripoli’s pledge late last year to renounce weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, June 10). The new U.S. liaison office in Tripoli was formally inaugurated after Assistant Secretary of State Bill Burns and State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator Cofer Black met with senior Libyan officials. The United States suspended embassy activities in Libya in 1980 and since February has conducted embassy activities through the U.S. interests section of the Belgian Embassy in Tripoli, according to the CIA World Factbook. Burns yesterday provided Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi with a letter from U.S. President George W. Bush, in which Bush confirmed the commitment of the United States to improved relations with Libya, according to the official Libyan news agency JANA. In addition, the U.S. State Department announced yesterday that a delegation of senior Libyan education representatives was scheduled to begin a three-week visit to the United States yesterday. The purpose of the visit is to help prepare for the return of Libyan students to U.S. colleges and universities, which the State Department said would be “an important step toward the normalization of ties between the two countries.” Yesterday’s announcements are the latest moves by the Bush administration to reward Libya for making progress in fulfilling the pledge to dismantle its WMD programs. In late April, the Bush administration formally terminated the application of the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act with regard to Libya, removing most of the economic sanctions imposed against Tripoli.  Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation in Washington said today, though, that the United States may be going “a bridge too far” by resuming full diplomatic links with Libya. While Qadhafi has made progress in disarming, Gardiner said, “huge questions” remain concerning Libya’s human rights record and history of “meddling” in the affairs of its African neighbors. Qadhafi “is a very dangerous figure and cannot be trusted,” Gardiner said, adding that the United States should keep the Libyan leader at “an arm’s length.” The U.S. State Department has yet to remove Libya from the list of terrorism-sponsoring nations, meaning that restrictions on dual-use exports and a ban on exports of items listed on the U.S. Munitions List remain in place. The department did not return calls for comment today on whether there are plans to soon remove Libya from the terrorism-sponsor list. Concerns over Libya’s lingering connections to terrorism increased earlier this month following reports that Libyan intelligence, with Qadhafi’s approval, sought last year to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. Details of the plot were separately revealed by an U.S. Muslim leader currently under arrest in the United States and a Libyan intelligence agent in Saudi custody, according to the Associated Press. Libya has denied the allegations.      Yesterday’s meeting between U.S. and Libyan officials “provided an opportunity to discuss Libya’s commitment to support the global war on terrorism and to repudiate the use of violence for political purposes,” according to the U.S. State Department. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday that the assassination plot allegations are still being investigated. He added, though, that the United States is satisfied with the progress Libya is making in fulfilling its no-WMD pledge. “We are looking into these reports [and] we are trying to establish their veracity or not. That veracity has not yet been fully established,” Ereli said. “The here and now is that we’ve got a process under way with Libya … that process is moving forward satisfactorily and that we will act accordingly,” he added. Back to top       Iraq Survey Group to Continue Work The coalition unit searching for evidence of Iraq’s alleged prewar WMD efforts will continue its work under the new Iraqi government, a CIA spokesman said yesterday. To date, the 1,400-member Iraq Survey Group has found no large-scale stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, June 25). Chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, who heads the unit, is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Congress next month on the progress of the WMD search, according to the New York Sun (Eli Lake, New York Sun, June 29). Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said yesterday that there was little chance that agency inspectors would soon return to Iraq due, in part, to continuing security concerns. The agency is ready to discuss with the new Iraqi government and the U.N. Security Council the return of agency inspectors to Iraq, ElBaradei said. He added that he would like to see the agency complete its efforts to verify prewar Iraq’s past nuclear efforts and implement a monitoring and verification system in Iraq, with the goal of returning to “normal safeguards.” Before IAEA inspectors could return to Iraq, though, the agency “would obviously have to weigh the security situation,” ElBaradei said. “We work sometimes under a certain degree of risk. It has to be managed risk. … I think right now the current situation is a major impediment,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 28). Back to top       UNMOVIC Could Become Permanent Agency, Blix Says The U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, originally established to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, could someday be turned into a permanent U.N. inspections body, former chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 30). “Perhaps UNMOVIC, with a somewhat modified mandate and with a small core staff and a roster of trained inspectors, could become a permanent relatively low-cost instrument for the Security Council,” Blix said during a conference at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. He added that UNMOVIC could “set up and direct inspection teams at short notice” in light of the “more active role that the council envisages for itself in the sphere of weapons of mass destruction” (Robert Koch, Agence France-Presse, June 28). Blix also said yesterday that talks on Israeli nuclear disarmament should be included as part of overall Middle Eastern peace efforts, according to the Associated Press. While saying that a “road map to peace is the first step,” Blix said that he doubted that “you can have a peace process without considering the nuclear issue.” Israel, which is a not member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, has never publicly declared possessing a nuclear weapons program (Andrea Dudikova, Associated Press, June 28). Back to top

Iran Admits Razed Site Was Military Research Complex Iran has told visiting international inspectors that a recently razed site at Lavizan had been used for military research but not nuclear weapons activity, Reuters reported today (see GSN, June 28). “The Iranians said it was a former research and development military site and was used as a physics institute, later for biotechnology research ... for medicine,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohammad ElBaradei said today (Reuters, June 29). Inspectors from the agency visited the Lavizan site yesterday, Reuters reported. “We went there today and we took environmental samples,” ElBaradei said yesterday. “Tomorrow we will also visit places in the country to look at relevant equipment,” he added (Reuters/Planet Ark, June 29). Back to top       Powell Could Meet North Korean Foreign Minister U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell could meet with his North Korean counterpart, Paek Nam Sun, during this week’s forum in Indonesia of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, June 28). “It’s up to the parties concerned to decide whether they want to elevate this to a ministerial level,” said Indonesian government spokesman Marty Natalegawa today. “As far as Indonesia is concerned, we wish to help them meet all together or in some bilateral or trilateral arrangement,” he added. Paek has said he is willing to meet with Powell at the request of the United States, according to the Associated Press. However, he also said there is no scheduled plan to meet, suggesting that any conference would be hastily arranged and unlikely to yield any major breakthrough in the North Korea nuclear crisis, AP reported (Christopher Torchia, Associated Press/PhillyBurbs.com, June 29). Paek promised today to be patient and flexible in ongoing talks with Washington, according to Agence France-Presse. “North Korea promised to continue to take part in the six-party talks with, in his (Paek’s) own words, full patience and flexibility and to solve the issue in one package,” said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, who met with the North Korean official today. “He admitted that the missing substance in the talks is trust,” Wirayuda added (Victor Tjahjadi, Agence France-Presse, June 29). Meanwhile, the United States yesterday acknowledged that any agreement with Pyongyang would not happen soon, the Associated Press reported. “Important differences remain between the parties,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 29). Back to top       IAEA, Russia Discuss Nonproliferation Cooperation International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met yesterday in Moscow to discuss Russia’s cooperation in international nuclear nonproliferation efforts. “We discussed the future ways of collaboration with Moscow on the nonproliferation regime, and the specific situation that has formed around Iran, stemming from Tehran’s recent declarations” that it would resume producing uranium-enrichment centrifuge components, ElBaradei was quoted by Interfax as saying (see GSN, June 28).  He said that it was up to Russia and Iran to decide whether Tehran would sign an agreement requiring that spent fuel from the Bushehr nuclear reactor, which Moscow is building, be returned to Russia. During their meeting, ElBaradei and Lavrov also discussed preventing nuclear terrorism, the secure transport of nuclear materials, and a U.S.-Russian agreement on the return of Russian-origin research reactor fuel to Russia, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, May 27; Irina Titova, Associated Press, June 28). Russia has agreed to host a conference next year on the disposal of spent reactor fuel, ElBaradei said. He also said that Russia was willing to construct an international spent fuel storage center (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse, June 28). Back to top       Russia Conducts Successful SLBM Test Russia today successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile, according to the Russian Defense Ministry (see GSN, April 21). The SS-N-23 missile was launched from the Delta IV-class Yekaterinburg in the Barents Sea to the Kura testing ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula, about 7,000 kilometers away (see GSN, Dec. 29, 2003; Associated Press, June 29). Back to top

Emergency Crews Inadvertently Spread Anthrax Beyond Capitol Hill During 2001 Mail Attacks Anthrax contamination from the October 2001 mail attacks appears to have been spread farther than was previously reported, Roll Call reported yesterday (see GSN, March 4). A June 4 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that U.S. Capitol Police might have inadvertently spread the bacteria beyond the Hart Senate Office Building while responding to the attacks. “Off-site contamination by equipment and clothing occurred when members of the U.S. Capitol Police Hazardous Device Unit who had responded to the letter returned to their office,” the CDC report states. “Environmental sampling located contamination in vehicles and office-space surfaces where equipment was handled,” it adds. The department initially allowed officers to enter and exit affected areas at the Hart building without being decontaminated, one officer said (Keller/Yachnin, Roll Call, June 28). Meanwhile, the central mail distribution center on Brentwood Road in Washington, the site of anthrax contaminations that resulted in the deaths of two postal workers, is “operating back to normal,” a U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman said Friday, according to the Washington Times. The facility reopened in December after being cleaned and was renamed in honor of the two dead employees — Joseph Curseen Jr. and Thomas Morris Jr. (Guy Taylor, Washington Times, June 28). Back to top

Cause of Aberdeen Chemical Alarm Still Not Known The source of a trace amount of mustard agent vapor detected last Wednesday in a storage building at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland has still not been determined, U.S. Army officials said yesterday (see GSN, June 25). No additional vapor has been detected since the alarm, officials added. The possibility of a leak on or near the containers has been ruled out, according to an Army press release. Edgewood Chemical Activity Civilian Executive Mary Jo Civis said the investigation would continue and that it would take some time given the number of containers in the building. “There have been instances at other stockpile sites where a very small amount of vapor has leaked from a container then sealed itself and stopped leaking,” Civis said in a prepared statement. “In such cases, we are dealing with extremely small levels of agent vapor, typically well below exposure limits set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” she added. Last week’s leak was the first recorded in the 60-year history of the chemical stockpile at the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, according to officials (Aberdeen Proving Ground release, June 28). Back to top

Department Debates Who Will Operate Missile Defense The U.S. Defense Department remains unsure which of the armed services will have primary responsibility for operating the national missile defense system set for initial deployment this year, Defense News reported yesterday (see GSN, June 8). Most new weapons become the responsibility of one particular armed service, according to Defense News. However, the missile defense system consists of components belonging to different services and is also expected to remain in the hands of its developers even after becoming operational. The U.S. Air Force’s satellites and radar are used in the missile defense system, as are the Army’s command-and-control systems and Navy sensors. The Missile Defense Agency could create a management entity made up of representatives from the three military services, said Air Force Lt. Gen Ronald Kadish, who is scheduled to retire next month after five years as agency director. Another option could be a joint program office whose leadership rotates, according to Kadish. “When you start putting sensors and shooters together, it is a total integration across services in different basing modes that makes it effective,” Kadish said. “It is difficult to transfer total responsibility for upgrades to these systems (to one military service) while you try to maintain that integration. That’s what we’re trying to work our way through,” he added (Ratnam/Sherman, Defense News, June 28). Once the system becomes operational in September, it will be supported by two separate battle management structures built by different defense contractors, Aviation Week & Space Technology reported. The two-track approach — a ground-based, midcourse system built by Boeing and a Lockheed-Martin-led effort coordinating the remainder of the system — is a vestige of the defunct Antiballistic Missile Treaty, which restricted integration of various missile defense efforts, according to U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John Holly, MDA director for ground-based effort. “We’re in a transition period,” he said (Robert Wall, Aviation Week & Space Technology, June 28). Back to top

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Investigates Lost Spent Fuel From U.S. Power Plant The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said last week that it is investigating the disappearance of two spent nuclear fuel rod segments from a nuclear power plant in Vermont (see GSN, June 4). The NRC disclosed details of its investigation in a letter sent June 24 to U.S. Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.). According to the commission, in mid-April the operator of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant reported that two spent fuel rod segments were missing from the plant’s spent fuel pool. In May, the plant operator conducted a second underwater inspection of the plant’s spent fuel pool, but still failed to finding the missing spent fuel pieces, the commission said. As part of its own investigation into the incident, the NRC said that it would review the efforts by plant operator Entergy to locate the missing spent fuel pieces and determine whether Entergy is in full compliance with applicable regualtions. While noting that it is “premature” to speculate on the fate of the missing spent fuel pieces, the commission also said that it was “highly unlikely that the material in the public domain.”  In a press statement yesterday, though, Markey criticized the NRC for failing to find the missing radioactive material. “The NRC says it has no idea where the spent nuclear fuel is, but insists that it is safe, wherever it is. This sounds like a faith-based approach to nuclear security to me,” Markey said in a press statement. “It is time for the NRC to crack down on those responsible for these materials, implement new security regulations and impose high penalties for those who don’t comply,” he added (see GSN, June 27, 2002; U.S. Representative Edward Markey release, June 28).       Back to top

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