A model of the Bushehr nuclear plant that Russia is constructing for Iran (shown in a 2003 photo). According to intelligence reports, Iran is attempting to purchase a material that could be used to improve nuclear explosions from a Russian company (AFP photo/Atta Kenare). Iran Allegedly Seeking Nuclear Explosion “Booster” Iran is negotiating with a Russian company to purchase deuterium, a substance that can boost explosions in nuclear weapons, Reuters reported today (see GSN, July 27). A two-page intelligence agency report circulated by diplomats in Vienna cites “knowledgeable Russian sources” as confirming the negotiations. “Iranian middlemen ... are in the advanced stages of negotiations in Russia to buy deuterium gas,” the report says. ..Full Story

Kerry Calls for Sept. 11 Commission to Continue Work By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), who is set to accept the Democratic nomination for the 2004 presidential election this week, said yesterday that the Sept. 11 commission should “stay on the job” past the end of August to ensure that its recommendations are implemented (see GSN, July 27)...Full Story

High-Level Diplomacy Continues on Nuclear Standoff A senior U.S. diplomat arrived in Beijing today to discuss the nuclear standoff with North Korea, Reuters reported (see GSN, July 26)...Full Story

	Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Kerry Calls for Sept. 11 Commission to Continue Work By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), who is set to accept the Democratic nomination for the 2004 presidential election this week, said yesterday that the Sept. 11 commission should “stay on the job” past the end of August to ensure that its recommendations are implemented (see GSN, July 27). The commission is set to disband Aug. 28. During a campaign stop in Norfolk, Va., Kerry called for the body to instead continue to work for an additional 18 months. The commission should also issue status reports every six months, beginning in December, on the progress made in implementing the recommendations included in its final report released last week, Kerry said. The commission proposed a number of measures to help improve U.S. intelligence, counterterrorism and homeland security efforts. Among the recommendations were proposals to change the structure of the U.S. intelligence community through the creation of a national director of intelligence and National Counterterrorism Center, as well as proposals to help improve congressional oversight of intelligence and homeland security. “The stakes are too high to treat this commission’s report as something to just go away. The threat will not just go away.  The commission’s recommendation should not just go away,” Kerry said. The White House said yesterday that a Cabinet-level task force is examining the commission’s recommendations and that President George W. Bush may act soon to implement some proposals through executive order. In addition, a number of committees in both houses of Congress are set to hold hearings on the issue over the summer recess with the aim of producing legislation proposals by the end of the year. Kerry yesterday called on both Bush and Congress to act quickly on the commission’s recommendations. “We simply must act, not as partisans, but as patriots, not to win an argument about what was done or not done in the past, but to win a war upon which our future depends,” he said. According to reports, members of the commission plan to make a number of public appearances in support of their findings. The commission did not return calls for comment today on Kerry’s proposal. Intelligence experts told Global Security Newswire this week that the devastating impact of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the work of the Sept. 11 commission have resulted in growing momentum for implementing intelligence reform. “Politics dictate you have to do something,” said Charles Pena, director of defense policy studies at the CATO Institute. “You can’t flat out ignore it,” he said. Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday he expects “a great debate” on the report. “I don’t agree with absolutely everything that’s in it,” he said, according to Reuters. The commission’s report has “reinvigorated” prospects for reform, said Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy. “A lot of things seem possible that were out of reach before,” Aftergood said, adding that if reform is not possible now, “then it will never be.” One important test, according to Aftergood, is if action is taken on the commission’s recommendation to declassify the overall funding provided to the various intelligence agencies. While the CIA has “stubbornly resisted” such a move, it would help to improve oversight of the intelligence community, he said. “Nobody should have any illusions,” Pena said. “This isn’t going to happen overnight,” he said of reform. Some experts have warned that the CIA could resist reform efforts, noting recent speeches by former CIA Director George Tenet and acting agency chief John McLaughlin. In his farewell address to CIA employees earlier this month, Tenet noted the progress made in improving intelligence during his tenure as director, adding, “If people or leaders want to take you back in a different direction — then it is your voices that must be heard to say — we know better and we're not going to put up with it.” In addition, McLaughlin has publicly stated several times his opposition to the creation of a national director of intelligence, which the commission has recommended would be separate from CIA director. Congressional approval would be needed for such a move, but the position would only add needless bureaucracy, McLaughlin argues. According to experts, though, the CIA may have little say in how the Sept. 11 commission’s proposals are implemented. “It’s not really up to the CIA anymore,” Aftergood said. Back to top       U.S. Deploys Customs Inspectors in Greece U.S. inspectors were deployed yesterday to the Greek port of Piraeus as part of a U.S. effort to screen cargo containers heading to the United States for potential terrorist threats (see GSN, June 25). The U.S. customs inspectors were deployed at Piraeus through the Container Security Initiative, which Greece joined last month. Under the initiative, U.S. inspectors will target containers that raise terrorism concerns; Greek customs officials will then inspect those containers, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Department. With Piraeus’s participation in the security effort, U.S. inspectors are now stationed at the world’s 20 largest seaports — meeting a goal set when the initiative was launched in 2002, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner said. “But we are not stopping there. We plan to expand the CSI network even farther,” he said in a prepared statement (U.S. State Department release, July 27). Back to top

EU Alters WMD Clause in Proposed Syria Trade Deal The European Union has agreed to alter a clause in a proposed trade agreement with Syria calling on Damascus to dismantle weapons of mass destruction efforts, a European diplomat said yesterday (see GSN, July 16). “Some compromises have been agreed upon to make everyone happy,” the Beirut-based diplomat said. “There’s no distance from the previous stand. It’s a somewhat diluted standard clause. But the Syrians are exploiting this to the maximum,” the diplomat added. The diplomat said recent talks between the EU and Syria have resulted in Damascus lowering its opposition to the clause. “Syria originally flatly refused to talk about it. But there was a slight rephrasing of the clause from the EU side, so they softened a bit,” the diplomat said. “It was really the Syrians that gave in, not the EU,” the diplomat added. The political and economic agreement would not be signed without the clause, the diplomat said. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Sharaa said Monday that next month, “there may be a new thing regarding the Syrian-European partnership, toward signing [the agreement]” (Nicholas Blanford, Beirut Daily Star, July 28). Back to top

Iran Allegedly Seeking Nuclear Explosion “Booster” Iran is negotiating with a Russian company to purchase deuterium, a substance that can boost explosions in nuclear weapons, Reuters reported today (see GSN, July 27). A two-page intelligence agency report circulated by diplomats in Vienna cites “knowledgeable Russian sources” as confirming the negotiations. “Iranian middlemen ... are in the advanced stages of negotiations in Russia to buy deuterium gas,” the report says. Deuterium is used as a tracer molecule in medicine and biochemistry, according to Reuters, but it can also be combined with tritium and used as a “booster” in implosion-type nuclear fusion bombs. Seeking to purchase deuterium alone is not evidence of intent to develop nuclear weapons, said sources linked to the International Atomic Energy Agency, adding that the report seemed designed to persuade countries that are not convinced Iran is pursuing such a capability. “Iran needs to know that they will suffer deeply if they get nuclear weapons,” said the diplomat who provided the report to Reuters. It is not illegal for Iran to purchase deuterium, according to Reuters, but it should be reported to the U.N. nuclear watchdog. “Iran has not declared this to the IAEA,” said the diplomat who circulated the report. “Their cover story is that they want it for civilian purposes,” the diplomat added. The report does not name the Russian firm with which Iran is allegedly dealing, but says talks are in the final stages. Iran has unsuccessfully tried to produce deuterium-tritium gas with the help of Russian scientists, report adds. An official at Russia’s Atomic Energy Agency and a spokesman for Russia’s nuclear watchdog, GosAtomNadzor, said they knew nothing about the deal. “We are not aware of any such negotiations or shipments taking place,” said the agency official. “I am puzzled.  All shipments of sensitive and dangerous gases like deuterium must be carried out with a proper license,” the official added (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 28). Meanwhile, Iran is unlikely to ratify the additional protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, which it signed in December, until the agency clears the country’s case from its agenda, Agence France-Presse reported. Ratification of the protocol is “conditional to the IAEA approving our use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes,” said Mohamoud Mohammadi, deputy head of the Parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Commission. “The majority of my colleagues in the Parliament think this way,” he added. “The fear is that the Additional Protocol could be used as a tool for political pressure. If they treat our dossier in a purely technical fashion, then we will cooperate,” Mohammadi said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 28). Back to top       High-Level Diplomacy Continues on Nuclear Standoff A senior U.S. diplomat arrived in Beijing today to discuss the nuclear standoff with North Korea, Reuters reported (see GSN, July 26). China requested that Joseph DeTrani make the trip, and Beijing may be passing on Pyongyang’s official rejection of a U.S. proposal to end the standoff, a senior U.S. official in Washington said yesterday. However, DeTrani would have been unlikely to make the visit if there was little hope for progress, said an Asian diplomat in Beijing. Ri Gun, the deputy head of the U.S. affairs section of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, is expected to make a rare visit to the United States next month, diplomatic sources in Beijing and Tokyo said.  “I think we may now be in a mediating period,” said Qi Baoliang, a North Korea expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Studies. “There has been some bilateral contact between the United States and North Korea recently. In the open, there are still expressions of antagonism. But in reality, at the lower levels, there is contact,” he added (Ruwitch/Eckert, Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 28). Meanwhile, China proposed holding a working group meeting from Aug. 11 to 14 ahead of a fourth round of six-party talks planned for September, Reuters reported. The meetings are expected to be held in Beijing, Chinese officials said today, according to Japan’s NHK television. No dates for working-level talks have yet been confirmed, according to Japan’s top government spokesman, Hiroyuki Hosoda (Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 28). Elsewhere, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun reiterated his country’s position that the nuclear standoff must be resolved peacefully, the Yonhap News Agency reported “I am determined to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue peacefully through dialogue,” Roh said in a message to a ceremony in Washington honoring Korean War veterans (Yonhap, July 28). Back to top       Classified Work Halt At Sandia Could Last Two Weeks The halt to classified operations mandated at U.S. Energy Department laboratories could last up to two weeks at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico while an inventory of thousands of classified data storage devices is conducted, Associated Press reported today (see GSN, July 26). “It’s going to really take a couple of days to get our arms around what’s required,” Sandia spokesman John German said. The department ordered the halt of classified operations in response to the disappearance earlier this month of two computer disks from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.  Sandia employees were briefed Monday on security practices for data storage devices, German said. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Los Alamos, where work has been suspended in all laboratory divisions, said yesterday that up to 20 percent of the facility’s lowest security risk operations are ready to resume (Leslie Hoffman, Associated Press, July 28). Back to top

Chinese Children Wounded by Chemical Weapon Two children were injured last week while playing with abandoned World War II-era Japanese chemical weapons in the city of Dunhua in northeastern China, Reuters reported (see GSN, June 18). Nine-year-old Liu Hao suffered blisters to his hands and legs after prying one armament open and releasing a searing orange liquid, according to the China Daily. Another boy suffered less serious injuries, the newspaper reported yesterday. Chemical weapons abandoned after World War II have injured about 2,000 Chinese people; China has complained that Japan has been slow in destroying the munitions. Of the estimated 2 million chemical weapons buried or abandoned by retreating Japanese troops in 1945, up to 670,000 were dumped in and around Dunhua alone, according to the China Daily. China was urgently contacting the Japanese Embassy in Beijing to negotiate the matter, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said (Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 28). Back to top       Japanese Court Upholds Death Rulings in Sarin Attack The Tokyo High Court today upheld the death sentences imposed against former Aum Shinrikyo members Toru Toyoda and Kenichi Hirose for their participation in the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway (see GSN, May 28) Toyoda and Hirose, two of the five members of the cult who conducted the attack that killed 12, were sentenced to hang in 2000, according to court spokesman Sadakazu Takagi. Thirteen former cult members have been sentenced to death for planning and carrying out the attack. None have yet been executed, according to Associated Press. The High Court yesterday also upheld the life sentence imposed on former cult member Shigeo Sugimoto, who was a getaway driver for one of the subway attackers (Associated Press/CBC News, July 27). Back to top       Portable Light Believed to Be Cause of Tooele Alarm A portable light accidentally left inside an incinerator by a contractor doing repairs appears to be the likely source of a chemical agent alarm on July 17 at the Tooele Chemical Disposal Facility in Utah, the Tooele Transcript Bulletin reported (see GSN, July 22). After shutting down and allowing the incinerator to cool, workers discovered the charred remains of the light and its electrical cord. While investigators initially believed that newly installed brick mortar inside the incinerator had interfered with the chemical monitor and triggered the alarm, officials now believe the abandoned light was the most likely culprit. Laboratory personnel are studying the remains of the light to test the theory (Karen Lee Scott, Tooele Transcript Bulletin, July 27). Back to top

Greece Deploys Patriot Missiles to Defend Olympics Greece has placed dozens of U.S.-made Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles around Athens for protection against threats from the air during the Aug. 13-29 Olympics, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, July 27). The missiles were armed and placed at three sites around the capital, including the Tatoi military base near the athletes’ village. “This particular squadron, along with other missile-guided squadrons, is part of an anti-missile umbrella formed in the Athens region for the protection of the Olympic Games,” said Lt. Col. Agamemnon Koliakos (Karolos Grohmann, Reuters/AlertNet, July 27). Patriot launchers were also set up beginning July 1 in the northern city of Thessaloniki and on the island of Skyros in the Aegean Sea, according to the Associated Press. All will remain on alert through Oct. 5 (Derek Gatopoulos, Associated Press/Casper Star-Tribune, July 28).     Back to top

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