The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed a vote yesterday on the nomination of John Bolton (shown in a committee hearing last week) to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (AFP photo/ Brendan Smialowski). Republicans Delay Bolton Nomination By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Facing the sudden prospect of defeat in approving the nomination of John Bolton for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday agreed to delay a vote for three weeks to allow for further investigation of the State Department official’s record (see GSN, April 19). The decision followed revelations by Democrats of additional allegations regarding Bolton’s conduct as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security and in previous jobs. Perhaps more significantly, one committee Republican indicated that he might oppose Bolton’s nomination...Full Story

Plutonium Reprocessing Will Increase “Deterrent” Against U.S., North Korean Official Says A North Korean official indicated Monday that his nation may be harvesting plutonium from a nuclear reactor reported this week to have shut down, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, April 19)...Full Story

DOD to Release $300 Million for Blue Grass, Pueblo The U.S. Defense Department plans to release at least $300 million for construction of chemical weapons neutralization sites in Colorado and Kentucky, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, April 13)...Full Story

	Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Republicans Delay Bolton Nomination By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Facing the sudden prospect of defeat in approving the nomination of John Bolton for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday agreed to delay a vote for three weeks to allow for further investigation of the State Department official’s record (see GSN, April 19). The decision followed revelations by Democrats of additional allegations regarding Bolton’s conduct as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security and in previous jobs. Perhaps more significantly, one committee Republican indicated that he might oppose Bolton’s nomination. More than an hour into discussions before a vote that had been expected yesterday afternoon, Republican Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio) surprised the committee by saying, “I’ve heard enough today that I don’t feel comfortable about voting for Mr. Bolton. I think one’s interpersonal skills and their relationship with their fellow man is a very important ingredient in anyone that works for me.” “Maybe it would be in the best interest of this committee to take a little bit more time,” said Voinovich, who did not attend last week’s hearings on Bolton’s appointment. Voinovich’s statement prompted Republicans to abruptly abandon a push for a vote on the controversial nomination, and endorse a Democratic call for a delay that they opposed only minutes earlier. “If in fact the votes play out the way I suspect they’re going to play out if we push this vote, the Bolton nomination will not come out of this committee. I think the responsible thing, in light of what Senator Voinovich has said, is to take the [motion to delay a vote], put a time frame on it, address the issues, and then call for the vote,” said Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.). The White House had pressed for the vote yesterday with the idea that the committee would approve Bolton’s nomination. “John Bolton is exactly the kind of person we need at the United Nations during this time of reform. John Bolton shares the president’s commitment to making sure that the United Nations is an effective multilateral organization that focuses on results,” Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters before the committee meeting at a briefing yesterday aboard Air Force One. New Allegations During the meeting yesterday, Democrats said they were recently made aware of new, though not fully substantiated, allegations of behavior by Bolton in his current and previous positions that they said fit a pattern of harassment and dishonesty that made him unsuitable for the ambassadorship. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.) noted an account by Texas businesswoman who said that Bolton, then working outside of government, harassed her nonsexually in 1994 while he was providing legal representation to a U.S. Agency for International Development subcontractor and she worked for the subcontractor’s supervising firm. Bolton also allegedly gave a false account of her conduct to try to get her in trouble. Biden said Bolton “followed her through Moscow, she alleges. He banged on her door in the middle of the night, went to Kyrgyzstan before she got back there, saying she had absconded with U.S. funds and so on and so forth, and that she shouldn’t be listened to.” “There are other things that have been alleged to us relating to a pattern of his conduct,” he said. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), who had proposed the Democratic motion to delay the vote, also described an allegation that Bolton “harassed a career Justice Department attorney while he was serving as the attorney general for the Civil Rights Division,” including by denying the attorney’s request for additional unpaid maternity leave. “Ultimately, the deputy attorney general stepped in and overruled Mr. Bolton,” he said. Such new allegations had not been fully examined by the committee, Democrats said, and therefore warranted a delay of the vote to allow for a more thorough investigation. Democrats also said further examination was needed on allegations described at hearings last week that Bolton sought to have a State Department analyst and a CIA analyst fired after a disagreement over whether Cuba had a biological weapons program. Bolton, Dodd said, did “damage” to the “integrity of U.S. intelligence by trying on five different occasions over the past 24 months to have two intelligence analysts removed from their jobs, one at the State Department, the other at the CIA, because these individuals wouldn’t clear language that Mr. Bolton wanted to use that was not supported by available intelligence.” He said also Bolton “may have blocked important information from going to senior members of the State Department,” including former Secretary of State Colin Powell and current Secretary Condoleezza Rice. The information, Dodd said, has been characterized as “vital to the U.S. strategies on Iran” and “related to the lack of international support for Mr. Bolton’s effort to have the head of the [International Atomic Energy Agency] removed” (see GSN, April 18). Democrats said they also wanted to examine why Bolton had requested on 10 occasions the identities of U.S. officials whose conversations with foreign officials were recorded by the National Security Agency. Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said further exploration of Bolton’s record could occur after the committee had voted to approve him. He said “hundreds of pages of material” requested declassified by the committee still needed to be received from the CIA and State Department “so that a thorough record was available to all of us.” Earlier during the meeting, however, Lugar also said “that any allegation that somehow or other there is not a very complete record on John Bolton I think [is] in error.” A Hasty Retreat Through much of the meeting, Lugar attempted to cut off discussion and to hold a vote, believing that the committee consisting of 10 Republicans and eight Democrats could move the nomination to the Senate floor for a vote of the full Republican-controlled chamber. Lugar said he was committed to holding a vote and dismissed the idea that further debate or investigation would block the nomination.  “I appreciate … the kindliness of the [Democratic] members trying to make certain that all of us as Republicans are well informed so that we will cast our votes in a proper way,” he said. “But let me just say, we were not born yesterday. The Republicans want to vote for John Bolton. There are 10 Republicans here,” he said. Voinovich’s brief statement, however, prompted other Republicans to reverse tack and lobby Lugar to accept Dodd’s motion to delay a vote to allow for further investigation of the allegations. “In view of Senator Voinovich’s comments, do you have any hesitation about going forward with this nomination?” Senator Lincoln Chafee (R –R.I.) asked Lugar. Lugar said he didn’t, but changed his mind after further prompting by Republicans. “In regard to Senator Voinovich’s comments, I would respect[fully] suggest that we might consider amending Senator Dodd’s amendment,” to set a time limit on further investigation, Hagel said. Senator George Allen (R-Va.) was more frank, using a football analogy. “In the event that that a tie vote would actually sink this nomination, then strategically thinking, we need to play for a second down … but put a time limit on it,” he said. “The chair has sensed today a desire on the part of many not to vote,” Lugar said. “I would just simply say that at the end of the day I think we owe the nominee and the president that consideration,” he said. Lugar and ranking Democrat Biden agreed in principle to hold the vote in three weeks, following a congressional recess, and that Bolton might be again called before the committee, to discuss the allegations. Back to top

Plutonium Reprocessing Will Increase “Deterrent” Against U.S., North Korean Official Says A North Korean official indicated Monday that his nation may be harvesting plutonium from a nuclear reactor reported this week to have shut down, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, April 19). Han Song Ryol, North Korea’s top diplomat at the United Nations, said reprocessing the plutonium would allow Pyongyang to “increase our deterrent.” South Korea expressed concern at the move and encouraged Pyongyang to resume stalled six-party talks aimed at resolving the standoff over the North’s nuclear efforts. “We cannot but express serious concern if the North’s suspension of the 5-megawatt reactor is aimed at reprocessing (spent fuel rods),” Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said today. North Korea has once previously used threats of plutonium reprocessing to increase tensions over its nuclear program, AFP reported. Seoul remains opposed, however, to referring Pyongyang to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. “The government has a position that under the current situation, it opposes referring the North Korean nuclear issue to the U.N. Security Council,” said lawmaker Kim Sung-gon, a member of the ruling Uri Party (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 20). A Japanese official today expressed concern about North Korea’s plutonium production, avoiding discussion of Pyongyang’s reported reactor shutdown and reprocessing, the Kyodo news agency reported. “The fact that fuel for nuclear arms is being produced continuously is an extremely worrying situation,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda (Kyodo/Yahoo!Asia, April 20). Back to top       Progress Needed in Nuclear Talks, Iran Warns EU Iran must see “tangible progress” in senior-level nuclear negotiations set to begin April 29 with the European Union if the talks are to continue, a top Iranian official said in a Financial Times article published today (see GSN, April 18). Iran would move ahead with talks for a few more months if France, Germany and the United Kingdom allow Tehran’s latest proposal — that it be permitted to maintain some enrichment activities — to become “a basis” for the negotiations, Iranian nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani told the Times. “The Europeans should tell us whether these ideas can work as the basis for continued negotiations or not. If yes, fine.  If not, then the negotiations cannot continue,” Rohani said. “These ideas are the very last possible ideas that we could come up with as compromise options.” Any concessions on uranium enrichment, however, would likely undermine U.S. backing for the negotiations, according to Western diplomats. A breakdown in negotiations would probably end a uranium enrichment suspension accepted by Tehran last year as a means of heading off referral to the U.N. Security Council, according to the Times. “For our dossier to be sent to the Security Council would be a great failure on the part of Europe, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and multilateralism as a whole,” said Rohani (Khalaf/Smyth, Financial Times, April 20). Technical negotiations between Iran and the European Union began yesterday in Geneva and were expected to conclude today, Agence France-Presse reported. The proposal tabled by Iran includes “assembly, installation and testing of 3,000 centrifuges in Natanz,” where Iran has already built a pilot enrichment project of 164 centrifuges, according to text read to AFP by a diplomat close to the talks. The diplomat disputed the characterization of the Iranian proposal as a pilot project. “This isn’t a pilot enrichment plant they are seeking, it’s larger than that,” the diplomat said (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 20). Back to top       U.S. Intelligence Agencies Receive Repeated Reports That Zarqawi has a Nuclear or Radiological Weapon Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have a nuclear device or material for a radiological bomb, according to several classified U.S. intelligence reports distributed since December (see GSN, March 30). The reports say Zarqawi may have stored the nuclear device or dirty bomb in Afghanistan, U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence told the Washington Times. Some analysts have questioned the reports, saying that al-Qaeda would readily use such a device once acquired (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, April 20). Back to top       Pakistan Will Never Allow U.N. Nuclear Inspectors to Examine Its Facilities, Musharraf Says Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf today rejected any idea that he would allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to examine his country’s nuclear sites, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, April 11). “That is tantamount to admitting that we cannot be trusted in our own house,” Musharraf said. “We will give them all the information they want but we will not allow their inspectors into our country to question our officials or inspect our facilities,” he said. Musharraf added that he would also not grant international authorities access to former top Pakistani nuclear scientist and nuclear proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan. “You have to understand that Khan is a national hero in our country,” he said. “We will question him. No one should doubt our intention to give all the facts on this matter,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 20). Back to top       Saudi Arabia Begins Talks to Ease IAEA Oversight Saudi Arabia has begun talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency on signing the organization’s Small Quantities Protocol, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, March 7). The protocol allows countries to forgo reporting possession of up to 10 tons of natural uranium and 2.2 pounds of plutonium. The rules also allow new nuclear facilities to be kept secret until six months prior to operation, according to AP. Saudi Arabia has never negotiated an Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, which allows the U.N. agency to conduct more intrusive monitoring of a country’s nuclear program. That makes its effort to negotiate the Small Quantities Protocol of greater concern, some officials said. “As has become clear over the last several years, states can conduct nuclear activities of proliferation concern with quantities of nuclear material much smaller” than allowed under the protocol, Pierre Goldschmidt, a deputy director general at the agency, said in a February report. Riyadh also was alleged to have helped fund nuclear weapons programs in Iraq and Pakistan, and Saudi Prince Sultan Bin Abd-al-Aziz in 1999 reportedly met with former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, according to AP.  Saudi officials have reportedly discussed developing nuclear weapons in the past. Riyadh now says it is not seeking nuclear weapons, AP reported. While there remains a lack of solid evidence that Saudi Arabia has been “playing around, we can never be sure,” according to a Vienna-based diplomat familiar with the issue. “It certainly is a region of tension, and the (nuclear control) requirements should be tightened instead of eased,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security. “What if the security situation prompts the Saudis to rethink their (nuclear) options — or what if a (nuclear-minded) terrorist group sets up on Saudi territory?” (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, April 20). Back to top       DOE to Collect Highly Enriched Uranium From Plant The U.S. Energy Department plans to collect highly enriched uranium deposits that remain in equipment and pipes at a closed enrichment facility in Tennessee, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported yesterday (see GSN, April 12). The K-25 plant produced uranium for nuclear weapons from the World War II era until the 1960s. It is expected to be dismantled by 2008. That work will include recovering uranium from compressors, processing converters and pipes at the facility, the News Sentinel reported. “We’re going to cut open those components and remove the deposits,” said project manager Greg Eidam. The Energy Department and Bechtel Jacobs would not say how much uranium they expect to gather. “It is enough that it is a national resource that we need to save,” Eidam said. The highly enriched uranium would be shipped to the nearby Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, where it is expected to be converted to low-enriched uranium for use in nuclear reactors, said Y-12 spokesman Steve Wyatt. Transfers are expected to begin this summer and take about two years to complete. Equipment found to be contaminated by radioactive material would be buried at an Energy Department landfill in Tennessee or disposed of at the Nevada Test Site (Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, April 19). Back to top

DOD to Release $300 Million for Blue Grass, Pueblo The U.S. Defense Department plans to release at least $300 million for construction of chemical weapons neutralization sites in Colorado and Kentucky, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, April 13). Defense Undersecretary Michael Wynne also said in a memo that the possibility of relocating weapons from the two locations to already operating incinerators in other states should not be considered “at this time.” The Pentagon had frozen more than $700 million from the Pueblo, Colo., and Blue Grass, Ky., weapons depots while it sought less-expensive options for destroying their stockpiles. In the memo, Wynne asks that site project managers prepare spending plans to help the United States meet its anticipated 2012 deadline to destroy its chemical weapons, AP reported. “It sounds like complete capitulation to me,” said Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who had joined other lawmakers in demanding that the Pentagon abandon any thoughts of relocating weapons (see GSN, April 8; Hilary Roxe, Associated Press/Lexington Herald-Leader, April 20). Meanwhile, contractor Bechtel on Monday offered a tentative plan for reducing the anticipated $2.6 billion price tag for the Pueblo disposal facility, The Pueblo Chieftain reported (see GSN, Feb. 24). The Pentagon ordered Bechtel to cut the project cost back to $1.7 billion, according to the Chieftain. Cost-cutting options include building a smaller processing plant, and shipping components of disassembled weapons and wastewater produced by neutralization of mustard agent to other sites for final disposal. A local advisory group had rejected those options during development of the original disposal plan, the Chieftain reported. The new plan is expected to be submitted to the Defense Department in June. With approval, final design work could begin in September, roughly a year after it was halted (John Norton, The Pueblo Chieftain, April 19). Back to top       Appeals Court Puts D.C. Rail Ban on Hold A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit yesterday ordered a temporary halt to the District of Columbia’s ban on rail shipments of toxic materials, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, April 19). The emergency order blocking shipments of chlorine and other materials within the city’s borders was set to begin today. However, the judges said they wanted extra time to study legal issues in the case, the Post reported. The decision is not “in any way a ruling on the merits” of the case made by rail operator CSX against the D.C. ban, the judges wrote in their order. CSX said in a statement that it “appreciates the prompt action” taken in its lawsuit to overturn the order. District Council member Kathy Patterson said she believes the court will ultimately support the law. The nation’s capital needs extra protection from terrorism, which the federal government has not provided in this situation, she told the Post. “I can’t imagine anyone disagreeing with that point,” Patterson said (Henri Cauvin, Washington Post, April 20). Back to top       Pine Bluff Begins Burning Sarin The Pine Bluff chemical weapons incinerator in Arkansas is incinerating hundreds of gallons of the nerve agent sarin it has collected since weapons disposal began last month, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 1). The facility by yesterday had destroyed 958 sarin-filled M55 rockets since work began on March 29. However, substantial amounts of the nerve agent had to be removed from the weapons and collected for disposal in a separate incinerator, AP reported. The natural gas fueled liquid incinerator needs adequate levels of the agent to remain activated, said Pine Bluff Arsenal spokeswoman Raini Wright (Associated Press, April 19).   Back to top

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