Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein gestures today at his arraignment on several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity (AFP photo). Hussein Arraigned Today on War Crimes Charges, Including Use of Chemical Weapons Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was arraigned today in an Iraqi courtroom on several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of chemical weapons against Iraq’s Kurdish population in the late 1980s (see GSN, June 30)...Full Story

Universal Membership Sought for Chemical Weapons Treaty; Barriers Remain in North Korea, Middle East By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons hopes to have all U.N.-recognized countries pledge their opposition to chemical weaponry by 2007. Between the group and its goal, however, are some of the most impoverished, secretive and strife-ridden nations in the world...Full Story

U.S. Port-Security Review Lags, GAO Says By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard has not reviewed thousands of port and ship security plans in time for a deadline today and could meet with problems over the next year as it seeks to ensure compliance with the plans, the federal General Accounting Office said yesterday (see GSN, June 30)...Full Story

	Thursday, July 1, 2004

U.S. Port-Security Review Lags, GAO Says By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard has not reviewed thousands of port and ship security plans in time for a deadline today and could meet with problems over the next year as it seeks to ensure compliance with the plans, the federal General Accounting Office said yesterday (see GSN, June 30). Coast Guard regulations under the 2002 Maritime Transportation and Security Act required more than 12,000 ports and vessels to draw up new security plans and to implement them as of today, the same day that the closely related International Ship and Port Facility Security Code goes into effect around the world. “The Coast Guard decided to adopt a schedule that would align the United States with ongoing international improvements in maritime security as well as the act,” the congressional office said in a new report. Describing the need for such action, the research body said that given dangers such as “the potential for using the maritime transportation system as a conduit for smuggling weapons of mass destruction or other dangerous materials into the country … the specter of further terrorist incidents has led to widespread agreement that port security should be strengthened ― and soon.” “Facilities and vessels can be vulnerable on many security-related fronts. Facilities such as container terminals, where containers are transferred between ships and railroad cars or trucks, must be able to screen vehicles entering the facility and routinely check cargo for evidence of tampering. Chemical factories and other installations where hazardous materials are present must be able to control access to areas containing dangerous substances,” the office said. The 2002 law affects more than 3,000 port facilities and more than 9,000 vessels, all of which the Coast Guard plans to inspect by this time next year. The Coast Guard estimates improvements under the program will cost $7.3 billion over 10 years, “most of it borne by facility and vessel owners and operators,” according to yesterday’s report. Asked by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) and Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) to assess early progress and strategy in the effort, the researchers found that about half of owners and operators chose a “self-certified” option under which the Coast Guard was not required to review their plans by today’s deadline. “The Coast Guard’s first look at many of these plans will likely not come until after July 1, when inspectors begin compliance inspections to ensure that plans have been implemented,” the office said. As of a month ago, the researchers found, the Coast Guard had finished reviewing about half of the remaining, non-self certified plans. The service at that time moved to speed the process, as well as to allow facilities to operate past today without full approval of their plans. The extension is currently valid until Oct. 31 but could be extended up to a year under the act. Turning to plans for inspections over the next year of facilities’ compliance with their plans, the report’s authors said the Coast Guard could fall short in terms of numbers of inspectors, training programs and guidance to inspectors. “It is clear,” they wrote, that the Coast Guard’s inspection “strategy will face several challenges both in the short and longer term.” The $7.3 billion cost estimate, the researchers added, is a “good-faith effort … based on limited data” and “should be viewed … as a rough indicator.” “GAO recommends that the Coast Guard evaluate its initial compliance efforts and use them to strengthen the compliance process for its long-term strategy. As part of this strategy, the Coast Guard should clearly define inspector qualifications and consider including unscheduled and unannounced inspections and covert testing. The Coast Guard agreed,” the researchers said. Heritage Foundation senior research fellow James Carafano, who has studied the port effort extensively, said delays are “to be expected” but that without today’s deadline, little progress would have occurred over the past two years. In an interview today, Carafano said “the important thing is to build a sustainable, credible regime” for securing the ports. “It’s less relevant how many people are compliant today,” he added, “because being compliant means basically signing a piece of paper.” The top Democrat on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, Jim Turner (Texas), was more critical in a statement issued today. “We must move faster and take stronger measures to secure our ports and protect America,” Turner said. “Not only do we need to improve physical security at our ports, but our national security requires that we screen every cargo container that comes into the United States for nuclear or radiological materials. This is not happening today, and America remains at risk to nuclear terrorism,” he said. The Democrat also called for better locks and seals on cargo containers, saying that “terrorists could exploit this security weakness to bring a weapon of mass destruction into the country in a container.” Back to top       Key Asian Nations Meet Port Security Deadline Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan have reported full compliance with the International Ship and Port Facility Security code, which went into effect today worldwide, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, June 30). In addition, the Philippines and Thailand said between 68 and 85 percent of their ships have met the security requirements set by the International Maritime Organization. China has not released data on its compliance, but said it would implement the new rules. While Asia is moving ahead quickly with implementation of the antiterrorism code, worldwide compliance is increasing but still lags behind that region, according to Agence France-Presse. To date, 53.4 percent of 7,974 world ports have been certified, while 53.2 percent of the 22,539 ships have met the requirement — this number includes 56 percent of cargo ships, 71 percent of oil tankers, all cruise ships and 99 percent of parcel tankers (Martin Abbugao, Agence France-Presse, July 1). Back to top

U.S. Intelligence Community Already Implementing Reforms, Deputy CIA Chief Says The U.S. intelligence community has already taken steps to address the intelligence lapses uncovered by investigations into the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and U.S. intelligence on prewar Iraq, Deputy CIA Director John McLaughlin said last week (see GSN, June 17). “What shortcomings there were — and there were shortcomings — were the result of specific discrete problems that we understand and are well on our way to addressing or have already addressed,” McLaughlin said in a speech before a meeting of Business Executives for National Security. McLaughlin is set to become acting CIA director once current head George Tenet resigns this month. In his speech, McLaughlin offered advance criticism of a report set to be released next week by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concerning prewar intelligence on Iraq and a report expected to be issued later this month by the national commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the Washington Post. “Experiences and impressions that are just a few years old may be seriously out of date,” McLaughlin said. “There has been a real revolution in intelligence — from recruiting and technology to interagency cooperation and morale,” he added. McLaughlin rejected an oft-proposed idea to create an “intelligence czar” to oversee all U.S. intelligence agencies. He said that centralized control of the U.S. intelligence could be created “without the additional layers of command or bureaucracy such a change would inevitably bring” by providing the CIA director with overall decision authority over intelligence spending. McLaughlin also proposed giving the CIA director a fixed term in office “to underscore CIA’s nondepartmental, nonpolitical character” (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, July 1). Back to top       New Commander Takes Over WMD-Hunt in Iraq U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Joseph McMenamin last month took over as director of the Iraq Survey Group, which is searching for evidence of prewar Iraq’s alleged WMD efforts, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, June 29). McMenamin replaced Army Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton on June 12 in a move officials said was a routine rotation, AP reported. McMenamin would be in charge of the unit’s daily operations and would report to chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq Charles Duelfer. According to AP, the unit is preparing to release a report next month on the progress of the WMD search in Iraq (Associated Press/Los Angeles Times, July 1). Back to top

Iranian Parliament Considers Scrapping Deal With Europe, Resuming Uranium Enrichment Iranian members of parliament are considering a bill to nullify an agreement signed last year with the United Kingdom, France and Germany and force resumption of uranium enrichment activities, a senior deputy said today (see GSN, June 30). “There are preliminary talks among the MPs,” said Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the Majlis national security and foreign policy committee. “It has not yet been approved in the committee, but there are talks to end the voluntary suspension,” he added. Under the deal with the European nations, Iran agreed to make several “confidence-building” gestures to the International Atomic Energy Agency (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, July 1). Meanwhile, Iran said yesterday it did not have to refrain from building centrifuges for uranium enrichment, the Associated Press reported. “We have no obligation to postpone the construction of the centrifuges,” said Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, traveling in Mexico (Morgan Lee, Associated Press/Boston Herald, June 30). Back to top       Indian Army May Create Nuclear Unit The Indian army is working quickly to create a unit armed with nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, the Pakistani newspaper Daily Times reported today (see GSN, June 7). The planned unit would be equipped with the nuclear-capable, medium-range Agni 1 and 2 ballistic missiles, according to the Daily Times. Indian army officials said the unit’s creation was being accelerated due to geopolitical factors. “These need not be Pak-specific,” an official was quoted as saying, referring to India’s nuclear-armed rival Pakistan (Daily Times, July 1). Back to top       University of Texas Expected to Enter Nuclear Laboratory Management Competition The University of Texas is considering competing for the U.S. Energy Department contract to manage the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Austin American-Statesman reported yesterday (see GSN, June 30). While the University of California now operates the laboratory, the Energy Department last year decided to open the contract up to competition because of management and security concerns. University of Texas System officials said they plan to submit a formal “expression of interest” in operating Los Alamos, which the Energy Department has requested from interested parties by July 12 (Ralph Haurwitz, Austin American-Statesman, June 30). Back to top

Mice Offer Hope on Resisting Smallpox A discovery by Australian scientists about immune responses in mice could yield improved protection for humans in the event of an intentional smallpox release, Reuters reported today (see GSN, May 28). Australian scientists discovered that mice with a resistance to mousepox, a close relative of the smallpox virus, produce certain regulatory proteins which mice that become infected do not. The breakthrough could make it possible to identify humans vulnerable to smallpox. Vaccination and treatment could then be targeted in the event of an outbreak, said Australian National University immunologist Gunasegaran Karupiah, head of the research team. “This is an important step towards better protection from the threat of smallpox for health workers and the general community,” Karupiah said (Reuters, July 1). Back to top       U.S. Restrictions on Research Sharing Could Hinder Bioterrorism Fight, Bioethicist Says The United States should share its biological research results with other countries and train foreign scientists and medical professionals in the fight against bioterrorism, a Medical College of Wisconsin bioethicist wrote in the June 10 issue of Nature (see GSN, June 28). “An open academic and educational system is one of our most important defensive strengths,” Tom May said. “We need new ways of thinking about security,” he added. May said new U.S. restrictions on information sharing regarding biological weapons, research on biological agents and study by some foreign scientists in the United States could hinder the international effort against bioterrorism (Nature, June 10). Back to top

Hussein Arraigned Today on War Crimes Charges, Including Use of Chemical Weapons Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was arraigned today in an Iraqi courtroom on several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of chemical weapons against Iraq’s Kurdish population in the late 1980s (see GSN, June 30). The charges against Hussein also include the 1991 invasion of Kuwait, the crushing of Shiite Muslim and Kurdish uprisings, the killing of religious figures in 1974 and the killing of members of opposition political parties, the Post reported. In addition to Hussein, 11 other former top Iraqi officials are also set to be arraigned today. During his arraignment hearing, Hussein rejected the charges being leveled against him. “This is all theater. The real criminal is [U.S. President George W.] Bush,” Hussein said, according to initial pool reports (Chandrasekaran/Barbash, Washington Post, July 1). Meanwhile, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday that Iran should press charges against Hussein for the use of chemical weapons by Iraqi troops during the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s. “We must press charges in Saddam’s trial over the use of chemical weapons against people of our country,” Rafsanjani said. The former Iranian president also said that by filing charges against Hussein, Iran would shed light on the support Iraq received from Western nations during the war. “We faced severe chemical attacks at the beginning of the war when world powers were giving Saddam the green light to do anything to prevent Iran from winning,” Rafsanjani said. “We were confronted with merciless, cunning and deceitful enemies who today claim to defend human rights,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Pakistan Daily Times, June 30). Back to top       Universal Membership Sought for Chemical Weapons Treaty; Barriers Remain in North Korea, Middle East By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons hopes to have all U.N.-recognized countries pledge their opposition to chemical weaponry by 2007. Between the group and its goal, however, are some of the most impoverished, secretive and strife-ridden nations in the world. There are 164 countries party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, each agreeing not to develop or use chemical agents such as mustard gas and sarin and to destroy any existing stocks. Another 30 nations have signed but not ratified the treaty, said OPCW spokesman Peter Kaiser. Holdouts include North Korea, Israel, Egypt and Syria, all of which are believed to have had chemical weapons programs. Other nonmembers are grouped in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands, developing regions whose leaders might simply not see a reason to endure the cost and work involved in joining the treaty, experts said. “It sounds very ambitious to me,” said Jonathan Tucker, a senior researcher at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. “It’s always good to have goals, but I don’t think they’re necessarily going to make that goal unless there’s a significant change in the Middle East situation. And North Korea is a wildcard,” he added. “No treaty has ever achieved universality,” Tucker said. Nevertheless, Kaiser remains optimistic about the organization’s effort. Interest in membership has increased since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, he said. Meanwhile, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1540 is pressing all U.N. states to develop measures to block the spread of weapons of mass destruction and to support global nonproliferation treaties (see GSN, April 29). The Chemical Weapons Convention was opened for signature in 1993 and entered into force in April 1997 with 87 members. It added 77 parties in the next seven years, most recently the Marshall Islands and St. Kitts and Nevis (see GSN, May 26). Each new member strengthens the worldwide presumption against the use of chemical weapons and reduces the chances for a terrorist organization to obtain such agents, Kaiser said. “We’re on the way,” he said. “We’re the fastest-growing nonproliferation regime on the planet,” Kaiser added. The Challenge Thirteen countries that have not joined the Chemical Weapons Convention for security reasons while the rest remain outside the treaty for lack of resources, Kaiser said. Eleven of the security-related nonmembers are in the Middle East and Africa, home to at least two wartime uses of chemical weapons in recent decades. “Strong evidence” indicates Egypt used munitions filled with phosgene and mustard agent during the Yemen civil war in the late 1960s, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, while Iran reportedly suffered up to 5,000 deaths from chemical weapons in the 1980s during its war with Iraq. Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was formally arraigned today in an Iraqi court for war crimes charges, including the reported use of chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds in 1988 (see related GSN story, today). The persistence of chemical weapons stockpiles today in the region revolves around the decades-old standoff between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Israel signed but never ratified the treaty, and is believed to have developed and possibly deployed chemical weapons before apparently ending its program, according to the Nuclear Threat Initative. Egypt and Syria are strongly believed to have chemical weapons, and the United States suspects Iran does as well despite being a treaty member. For the Arab states, chemical weapons are meant to be a deterrent against Israel’s reported nuclear program, though Tucker said that would prove inadequate to stop Israel if it committed to an atomic attack. Some Middle Eastern nations have indicated they will disarm only if Israel destroys its nuclear weapons, experts said. “Absent a negotiated settlement [to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict] or a really strong American push to bring Israel on board, I can’t see anything changing,” said Nathan Brown, director of the Middle Eastern Studies program at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. A U.S. official said the government works to persuade countries in the region that chemical weapons do not strengthen security, but could not elaborate on the diplomatic efforts. Officials at the Israeli, Syrian and Egyptian embassies in Washington did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Kaiser acknowledged that seeing more nations join the treaty in the Middle East would go hand-in-hand with the peace process, but said movement is possible. Libya this year gave up its WMD programs, and Kaiser said the new government of Iraq is hoped to join the treaty “sooner rather than later.” There are other tough nuts to crack. North Korea’s nuclear efforts have held international attention for years, but reports indicate the communist nation has a chemical arsenal of up to 5,000 tons that contains choking and blistering weapons and possibly nerve agents. A June 15 North Korean statement vowed the country had the right to stockpile nuclear, chemical and biological weapons to protect itself from the U.S. WMD threat. Having already withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and blocked inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, North Korea is unlikely to allow the intense scrutiny required as a Chemical Weapons Convention member, Tucker said.  “That would be a major change in North Korean policy to the rest of the world,” he said. The international priority will remain on North Korea’s nuclear program, said the U.S. official, meaning a greater focus on the country’s chemical weapons would start only after resolution of the nuclear concerns that have spanned nearly two decades. The existence of external enemies is perhaps only the most obvious reason for some nations to remain outside the treaty. Some countries have no chemical industry and see no reason to join, while others might be too internally troubled to bother, experts said. “If their neighbors or their region doesn’t have [chemical weapons], possibly it’s not an interest for them,” said Herbert Howe, a Georgetown University assistant professor of African studies. “Countries like Sierra Leone are so preoccupied with other matters that it’s not surprising they haven’t signed on,” he added. Sierra Leone is one of 12 African nations that have not joined the convention; the country continues to recover from an 11-year civil war while its people remain mired in poverty. Elsewhere in Africa, the leadership of the Democratic Republic of Congo survived a coup attempt in June, while the civilian government of the Central African Republic was toppled in March 2003. The African Union, which represents 53 nations, has called for the continent to be freed of chemical weapons. The organization’s contacts with its member states could help persuade them to join the convention, Kaiser said. “The biggest difficulty is establishing a dialogue,” he said. The next largest concentration of nonmembers is the Caribbean with six, followed by the Middle East and Asia with four each, the Pacific Islands with three and Central America with one. To join the treaty, a country must enact national implementation legislation, establish an authority to oversee public and private adherence to the treaty and organize procedures for transferring chemical materials, monitoring industries and restricting access to materials. Members must also pay annual dues. The United States this year paid more than $15 million to support OPCW operation, the U.S. official said; some small developing nations pay less than $1,000 a year. Officials with the African Union, Pacific Islands Forum and Organization of Eastern Caribbean States did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Officials at Washington embassies for several nonmember states also could not be reached. “These countries just have a small number of people who do every arms control treaty,” Tucker said of the Caribbean and Pacific Islands nations. “They’re overstretched and they just see no financial interest in doing the treaty,” he added. Reasons to Join The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons isn’t sitting back waiting for countries to join the treaty. Last year it approved an “action plan” for universality, which includes hosting regional and subregional workshops, bilateral meetings and issuing publications in the languages of nonmember countries. Nations that wish to join the treaty would also receive support from the organization and its member states and partner agencies, Kaiser said. That help includes expertise in setting up the national implementation legislation and training for the personnel who would monitor the nation’s treaty compliance, the OPCW spokesman said. The organization would also, as needed, supply member states with alarms, detectors and other protection equipment, decontaminants and medical treatment. That equipment has not yet been needed beyond training, Kaiser said. Many smaller developing nations would have little other ability to respond to a chemical attack, the U.S. official said. Such nations rely on the legal and psychological norm against the use of chemical weapons for protection. That norm is strengthened by increased participation in the convention, making it easier to impose economic or political sanctions on nations found to be working with chemical weapons, experts said. “The more universal an agreement is, the more likely an agreement is to be universally adhered to,” said John Isaacs, president of the Council for a Livable World. Without declarations and verification, the organization cannot know how much chemical weaponry remains in existence and whether there is a significant risk of its use by a rogue nation or diversion for a terrorist incident such as the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin attack on the Tokyo subway. While individual countries might not feel themselves in danger, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is a global issue that must be addressed by all nations, Kaiser said. There is stature to be gained in joining the convention, Howe said, for “being a willing member of the international community’s desire to lessen conflict and suffering.” For Further Information, See: Nuclear Threat Initiative fact sheets on Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea and Syria, as well as Global Security Newswire articles on the Aum Shinrikyo cult. [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

Pakistan Plans Major Missile Test, Musharraf Says Pakistan plans to conduct an “extremely important” missile test within the next two months, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday, according to Agence France-Presse citing media reports (see GSN, June 28). The test would demonstrate that Pakistan was committed to its nuclear and missile programs, Musharraf said, and those who thought otherwise were living in a “fool’s paradise.” Musharraf did not provide details of the planned test, including whether it would involve a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, according to AFP. Pakistani media reports indicated, though, that the test would probably involve a long-range missile, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 1).   Back to top

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