Iranian Atomic Energy Agency head Gholamreza Aghazadeh addresses a nuclear energy conference in Tehran earlier this month. Iran has offered to limit its uranium enrichment capabilities in exchange for European incentives (AFP photo/Henghameh Fahimi). Iran Offers to Limit Uranium Enrichment Program Iran has offered to scale back its uranium enrichment plans as a possible compromise to European Union demands that Tehran abandon all programs to produce nuclear materials. Representatives from the two sides met this week in the latest round of talks intended to ease international concerns over Iran’s nuclear intentions (see GSN, March 23). At the talks Wednesday in Paris, Iran presented a written proposal to operate a pilot plant that would hold 500-2,000 centrifuges, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. Tehran currently plans to build facilities with 54,000 centrifuges, according to experts...Full Story

Pakistan Prepares to Send Nuclear Parts to IAEA Pakistani officials are considering transferring uranium enrichment centrifuge components to Vienna, where international nuclear inspectors would conduct tests to learn more about Iran’s nuclear program, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 28)...Full Story

EPA Undermining BioWatch Program, Report Says The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is failing to meet its responsibilities under the federal BioWatch program, potentially reducing the likelihood that the system would detect a release of a biological agent in a city, according to a internal report released yesterday (see GSN, March 3)...Full Story

	Friday, March 25, 2005

Bush Administration Considers Restructuring Justice Department to Improve Counterterror Efforts Seeking to improve U.S. efforts to prevent terrorist attacks, Bush administration officials are examining the option of creating a new division within the U.S. Justice Department that would consolidate activities now conducted throughout the agency, the New York Times reported today. The creation of a national security division would continue the department’s effort to break down barriers between its law enforcement and intelligence operations that hampered communication before the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks, plan supporters said. “The advantage of an idea like this is that it would bring together under one roof all of the Justice Department’s national security elements, and right now those elements are spread all over the place, willy-nilly,” said David Kris, formerly a senior Justice Department official during the President George W. Bush’s first term. The department now assigns counterterrorism prosecutions to its criminal division, but officials in an intelligence section control the sharing of surveillance information and other separate divisions must also be called in routinely to support cases, the Times reported. Consolidation would move all these functions into a single division directed by an assistant attorney general, according to the Times. Support for the idea is not universal. “I don’t see a real benefit,” said former Justice Department official John Martin. “Creating a separate division, you risk detracting from the framework that’s been built over the years, and that alone won’t change whatever communication problems exist, no matter where you put the different pieces of the department.” In addition, the move would probably raise concerns from civil rights advocates who have argued that post-Sept. 11 laws have already given the department too much power, according to the Times (Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, March 25). Back to top

U.S. WMD Commission Report Expected Next Week A U.S. bipartisan commission report to be released next week is expected to chastise the U.S. intelligence community for its assessments of the WMD programs of Iran, North Korea and Iraq, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 9). The committee led by retired federal judge Laurence Silberman and former Virginia Governor and Senator Charles Robb is expected to spread the blame among 15 intelligence agencies, AP reported. “I don’t get the impression that one (agency) is better than the other,” said Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), a panel member. The commission looked intensely at intelligence that indicated that prewar Iraq had an active WMD program, sources told AP. No stockpiles were found following the invasion. “I think questions had to be answered as to why we were so wrong,” McCain said. “We needed to have recommendations as to how to prevent something like this from ever happening again.” Intelligence insight into the weapons programs of Iran, North Korea and Libya are also being studied. The commission is further expected to report on the value of creating an intelligence center to track WMD proliferation, AP reported. Intelligence agencies are now reviewing the report to determine how much can be declassified. The report is expected to be hundreds of pages in length; a commission spokesman said as much as possible will be made public (Katherine Shrader, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 24). Back to top

Iran Offers to Limit Uranium Enrichment Program Iran has offered to scale back its uranium enrichment plans as a possible compromise to European Union demands that Tehran abandon all programs to produce nuclear materials. Representatives from the two sides met this week in the latest round of talks intended to ease international concerns over Iran’s nuclear intentions (see GSN, March 23). At the talks Wednesday in Paris, Iran presented a written proposal to operate a pilot plant that would hold 500-2,000 centrifuges, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. Tehran currently plans to build facilities with 54,000 centrifuges, according to experts. The three European nations leading the talks — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — are considering the Iranian proposal, but “the sheer fact that this is being studied does not mean it is accepted,” said a senior European diplomat. “The only meaning of what is happening is that the negotiating process is alive and kicking.   There is something to be discussed.” One European official, however, liked the Iranian idea, which also called for the International Atomic Energy Agency to oversee the pilot plant to ensure that uranium would not be enriched to nuclear weapon-grade levels. “If the experts find a way to monitor this in an effective way, then why not?” the official said. The United States recently agreed to participate in incentives the EU nations were offering Iran. The U.S. participation, however, was to be based on Iran’s agreement to forgo all uranium enrichment activity, according to AFP (see GSN, March 11; Agence France-Presse I/ChannelNewsAsia.com, March 24). In Tehran yesterday, an Iranian spokesman urged the European Union and the United States to consider the Iranian proposal seriously. “These ideas show the Islamic Republic of Iran’s seriousness in building confidence. These negotiations can, cautiously, be described as constructive. The talks will continue in the weeks ahead,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi (Agence France-Presse II, March 24). Meanwhile, Egypt cautioned the United States against taking any military action against Iran. “We tell our American friends that we must distance ourselves from a destructive war,” said President Hosni Mubarak, visiting Paris yesterday. “I think a military initiative could constitute a catastrophe for the entire region” (Associated Press, March 24). Back to top       Pakistan Prepares to Send Nuclear Parts to IAEA Pakistani officials are considering transferring uranium enrichment centrifuge components to Vienna, where international nuclear inspectors would conduct tests to learn more about Iran’s nuclear program, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 28). Pakistan confirmed recently that a nuclear smuggling network headed by the nation’s former top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had transferred centrifuges to Iran without government approval (see GSN, March 10; Farhan Bokhari, Financial Times, March 25). The testing results could support or undermine Iran’s assertion that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. A two-year investigation by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency has found traces of nearly weapon-grade uranium in Iranian centrifuges, but Iranian officials have claimed the material was already in the equipment that it imported from the smuggling network, Reuters reported (Zeeshan Haider, Reuters, March 25). “To end this issue once and for all, we want to send nuclear centrifuges to Vienna for inspection,” said Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf (Bokhari, Financial Times). He cautioned the agency, however, not to consider the deal an open-ended invitation to inspect Pakistani equipment. “We have said, ‘OK, we will give them and you examine them,’” Musharraf said. “But once and for all, and after that, we’ve told them that once we do it, then don’t ask next time” (Haider, Reuters). The logistics of the transfer have not yet been worked out. “We are considering (the IAEA’s) request, for dispatch of such a component as a centrifuge which has no utility for our (nuclear) program,” said a Pakistani Foreign Ministry official. Nevertheless, “It’s no more a question of ‘if.’ It’s more a matter of how the centrifuge parts would be transported,” said one senior Western diplomat in Islamabad. The plan so far calls for the Pakistani equipment to be examined at the IAEA nuclear laboratory in Siebersdorf, outside Vienna, according to the diplomat (Bokhari, Financial Times). Meanwhile in Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan denied a Sunday Washington Post report charging the administration with playing down the role of the smuggling network when accusing North Korea of exporting nuclear material (see GSN÷ March 21).  The Post report said that Bush administration officials had tried to build pressure on Pyongyang by telling Chinese and other regional officials that North Korea had shipped uranium hexafluoride to Libya, when in fact the shipment was made to the illicit nuclear network based in Pakistan. “Whether the intended recipient was the Khan network or Libya is irrelevant to our proliferation concerns regarding North Korea,” McClellan wrote in a letter to the Post. Calling the Post report “flat out wrong,” McClellan said, “Our allies were not ‘misled’ by the United States (McClellan letter, Washington Post, March 25). Back to top       North Korea Ready for War, Peace North Korea is prepared for war against the United States but is also open to returning to negotiations over its nuclear program, Pyongyang’s ambassador to Thailand said yesterday (see GSN, March 24). “We are ready to talk peace and we are ready for war with the Americans,” Ambassador O Song Chol told the Thai newspaper The Nation. Talks will only resume when the United States apologizes for naming North Korea an “outpost of tyranny” and ends its hostile policy toward Pyongyang, Chol said. Chol said referring North Korea to the U.N. Security Council would be akin to a declaration of war, according to the Associated Press. The envoy also rejected reports that China was increasing pressure on North Korea to rejoin the six-party talks. Beijing has only offered “some suggestions,” he said (Associated Press/Canada.com, March 24). South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said there is no deadline for North Korea to return to the talks, Reuters reported. “[U.S.] President [George W.] Bush said there was no deadline, and we haven’t set a deadline,” Ban said.   He added, though, “We have waited considerably, because June would be one year (from the last round).” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent reference to North Korea as “a sovereign state” indicates the United States sees Pyongyang as an equal in the negotiations that also involve China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, Ban told the Yonhap news agency. “North Korea keeps talking about not getting treated right at the six-party talks, so (Rice) was noting a willingness to have dialogue as equals,” Ban said (Reuters/Yahoo!News, March 24). Back to top

EPA Undermining BioWatch Program, Report Says The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is failing to meet its responsibilities under the federal BioWatch program, potentially reducing the likelihood that the system would detect a release of a biological agent in a city, according to a internal report released yesterday (see GSN, March 3). The federal government has spent more than $200 million to place air monitors in at least 30 cities, including Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington, the New York Times reported. The monitors are intended to detect the spread of anthrax or other pathogens within 36 hours of release, allowing for a faster response by emergency personnel. However, EPA Inspector General Nikki Tinsley found that some air monitors have been placed too high, too low or too close to airflow obstructions.   Some monitors are too spread out to detect an attack or are installed in locations that leave them vulnerable to tampering, the Times reported. There is no system to assure the equipment is being checked, and some monitors are incorrectly calibrated due to maintenance mistakes, the report states. “The failure of EPA to completely fulfill its responsibilities raises uncertainty about the ability of the BioWatch program to detect a biological attack,” the report states (Eric Lipton, New York Times, March 25). BioWatch is funded and overseen by the Homeland Security Department, with operational support from other agencies, the Associated Press reported. The Environmental Protection Agency is already making improvements in the system similar to those recommended in Tinsley’s report, said Jeffrey Holmstead, EPA assistant administrator in charge of air quality (John Heilprin, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 24). Back to top       Company Preparing Faster-Acting Smallpox Vaccine The Danish firm Bavarian Nordic is developing a smallpox vaccine that could begin conferring protection against infection after just three days with just a single inoculation, Medicine & Law Weekly reported today (see GSN, March 3). Existing vaccines generally begin taking effect after 10 to 14 days, the publication reported. The third-generation modified virus Ankara vaccine Imvamune could be administered at higher doses, while remaining safe even for people whose weakened immune systems could not tolerate the existing smallpox vaccine, according to Medicine & Law Weekly (see GSN, Oct. 8, 2004). Production of Imvamune is expected to begin this summer in Denmark (Medicine & Law Weekly, March 25). Back to top       Boston Considers Hazardous Materials Registration The Boston City Council is considering a law requiring city laboratories to register the hazardous materials in their possession, the Boston Herald reported yesterday (see GSN, March 21). An estimated 5,000 laboratories at hospitals, schools and other Boston facilities work with substances ranging from cryogenic liquids to anthrax. Only 300 are required to notify the city of the materials being used at their sites, the Herald reported. That creates a potential danger in the event of an emergency at one of the facilities, officials said. “It’s potentially hazardous to all (firefighters) and the general public,” said Boston Fire Department chemist Joe Murphy. “You don’t know what’s there until something happens.” Laboratories under the proposal would pay a $500 registration fee, undergo Fire Department inspections and submit a yearly inventory of hazardous materials, the Herald reported (Dave Wedge, Boston Herald, March 24). Back to top

U.S. Army Reopens Investigation Into Death of Suspected Iraqi Chemical Weapons Scientist The U.S. Army has reopened its investigation of the death of an Iraqi scientist who died while in U.S. custody following the invasion, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Dec. 20, 2004). “The case was initially closed, but after further investigative review a determination was made to reopen the investigation,” said Army spokesman Christopher Gray. He offered no additional details of the investigation. An autopsy showed that Mohammad Munim al-Izmerly suffered a fatal blow to the head around February 2004, 10 months after being taken into U.S. custody. His family believes he might have died after being beaten, AP reported. Weapons investigators suspect that al-Izmerly was involved from the 1970s in Iraqi chemical weapons efforts. The Egyptian-born scientist led the Iraq Intelligence Service chemical section in the 1980s, according to a report last year by Charles Duelfer, chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq. Al-Izmerly’s work included testing poisonous substances on prisoners, according to the report. Australian microbiologist Rod Barton, who worked with the U.S.-led inspection team, said weapons scientists in Iraq might have been beaten during the hunt for weapons of mass destruction. While he was told in February 2004 that al-Izmerly has suffered a fatal brain tumor, “I had suspicions that this person had actually been beaten to death in the prison,” Barton told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. last month. Barton also reported seeing two other detainees who were being questioned about Iraqi weapons programs and appeared to have been beaten   Back to top

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