Iranian President Mohammad Khatami (center) reviews documents during a recent visit to a nuclear facility in Natanz. IAEA officials and diplomats confirmed that Iraq has maintained a freeze on sensitive nuclear work at the facility (Getty Images). Iran Maintaining Freeze on Nuclear Work at Natanz International Atomic Energy Agency experts last week verified that Tehran has maintained a freeze on all sensitive nuclear work at its underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Reuters reported Friday (see GSN, June 10). “The IAEA went to Natanz and, among other things, verified the suspension,” said a Western diplomat. ..Full Story

ElBaradei Wins Third Term as IAEA Chief By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — Mohamed ElBaradei effectively won today a third term as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The consensus decision by the agency’s Board of Governors capped several months of controversy which only ended last week when the United States formally dropped its opposition to ElBaradei’s candidacy (see GSN, June 10)...Full Story

South Korean, U.S. Leaders Play Down Differences on North Korea Nuclear Standoff U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun announced after a meeting Friday in Washington that they were united in their commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, yet still articulated differences in each country’s approach to North Korea’s nuclear program, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, June 10)...Full Story

	Monday, June 13, 2005

United States Should Look to Outside Agencies for WMD Analysis, Says Intelligence Leader By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies have too few analysts devoted to weapons of mass destruction and should more often look to outside experts for help on such subjects, former CIA Deputy Director William Studeman said here today (see GSN, April 1). Outside help from experts in their fields who are not necessarily intelligence professionals could be one way of “bulking up” the agencies’ in-depth research and analysis of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction and other subjects, the former National Security Agency director and member of President George W. Bush’s recent WMD commission said during a panel discussion at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Moderator and Sept. 11 commission member John Lehman asked how best to preserve competition of analysis among agencies to reduce the likelihood of action being taken without sufficient consideration, now that a national intelligence director exists to coordinate the work of the agencies. Studeman said such competition becomes most important when basic target penetration and analysis are insufficient and that improving intelligence collection should be a higher priority. “Collection is the first priority,” he said. “Once you have real data, then you’re not speculating or arguing.” Representative Jane Harman (D-Calif.) said the intelligence reform bill passed late last year, which created the national intelligence director post, includes provisions to fight “groupthink.” “We’ve built in a lot of ways to prevent it” and to ensure “the featuring of dissent,” Harman said. “I think his [Director John Negroponte’s] whole mindset about this is in that direction.” “It is critical,” Harman added, “that we honestly focus on what we don’t know.” Lehman said the director is meant to wear “three hats” — briefing the president each day on intelligence, managing the intelligence agencies and “tearing down” barriers on information sharing between agencies, which contributed to poor intelligence about al-Qaeda and Iraq — but that the third area “has not yet been addressed.” “It is the DNI’s leadership,” replied Studeman, which can cause various agency heads to “coalesce” into a team to overcome such problems. “It’s a leadership challenge,” Studeman said. “It was a leadership failure that got us here.” Back to top       FBI Missed Sept. 11 Clues, Report Says In the months leading up to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the FBI missed at least five opportunities to follow leads that could have led to discovery of the hijackers’ plans, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, May 5). “The way the FBI handled these matters was a significant failure that hindered the FBI’s chances of being able to detect and prevent the Sept. 11 attacks,” Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine wrote in a report released Thursday. For example, the agency failed to take seriously an agent’s theory — communicated to senior officials two months before the attacks — that terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was sending students to the United States to learn strategies for bringing down U.S. aircraft, the report says. While the agency developed solid information shortly before Sept. 11 about the presence in the United States of two of the hijackers, “the FBI’s investigation then was conducted without much urgency or priority,” the report says. The FBI responded to the report by saying it has since taken steps to deal with such issues. “No terrorism lead goes unaddressed,” and new information-sharing policies are in place, the FBI said. The year-old report is only now being released, according to the Post, because of a court challenge by attorneys for alleged “20th hijacker” Zacarias Moussaoui due to information in the report pertaining to their client. The portions referring to Moussaoui were deleted prior to its public release (Pete Yost, Associated Press/Washington Post, June 10). Back to top       Bush Nominates New Counterterrorism Center Chief U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday nominated retired Vice Adm. John Redd to head up the newly established National Counterterrorism Center, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, June 7). The center’s mission is terrorism-related intelligence analysis and strategic planning of counterterrorism operations, according to the Post. It is expected to analyze intelligence gathered by intelligence agencies and government networks. Redd was commander of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the Middle East and served most recently as deputy administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. This would be his first counterterrorism job. The Senate will decide whether to approve the appointment (Jim VandeHei, Washington Post, June 11). Back to top

Iran Maintaining Freeze on Nuclear Work at Natanz International Atomic Energy Agency experts last week verified that Tehran has maintained a freeze on all sensitive nuclear work at its underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Reuters reported Friday (see GSN, June 10). “The IAEA went to Natanz and, among other things, verified the suspension,” said a Western diplomat. One diplomat said Iranian officials temporarily barred the inspectors from visiting one part of the compound. “The team that got to Natanz is having a lot of trouble there,” a diplomat told Reuters on Thursday night. “The Iranians are very strictly limiting their access,” the diplomat said. The inspectors were permitted into the area after several hours, diplomats said later. One agency official said inspectors were gaining adequate access at Natanz. “There are no problems with access at Natanz,” the official said. Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, confirmed the visit. “They have visited wherever they have requested in Natanz facility and their inspections there are finished,” he said (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, June 10). Diplomats at the agency denied that IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei had pledged to get tough on Iran in order to gain U.S. support for his reappointment, Reuters reported yesterday (see related GSN story, today). Agency Deputy Director Pierre Goldschmidt is expected to report to the IAEA Board of Governors this week on the two-year investigation of Iran. “It’s going to be a tough report,” said a diplomat from one of the European powers. “It’s going to please the Americans but not the Iranians” (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, June 12). British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned that the United Kingdom would support referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council if Tehran lifts its freeze on sensitive nuclear work, the London Independent reported today. “We certainly will support referral to the Security Council if Iran breaches its obligations and undertakings,” Blair said. He added, however, that “Nobody is talking about invasions of Iran or military action against Iran” (Anne Penketh, The Independent, June 13). Meanwhile, Iran is receiving secret assistance from North Korea in its construction of underground bunkers for its nuclear program, the London Telegraph reported yesterday. North Korean construction specialists have arrived in Tehran for a consultation, according to the Telegraph. Iran is initially planning to construct 10,000 square meters of tunnels, according to Western intelligence reports (Con Coughlin, The Telegraph, June 12). Back to top       ElBaradei Wins Third Term as IAEA Chief By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — Mohamed ElBaradei effectively won today a third term as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The consensus decision by the agency’s Board of Governors capped several months of controversy which only ended last week when the United States formally dropped its opposition to ElBaradei’s candidacy (see GSN, June 10). Technically, all the agency’s members must deliver ElBaradei’s reappointment at their annual meeting in September, but today’s board decision was the final practical hurdle he faced. The Bush administration had opposed having ElBaradei serve another four-year term, ostensibly based on the principle that heads of major international organizations should serve two terms at most. Behind the scenes, however, diplomats acknowledged that U.S. officials were unhappy with ElBaradei, believing him to be too passive in building pressure against Iraq before the war and more recently in investigating Iran’s nuclear activities. Finally conceding that it was alone in its opposition, the United States reversed course last week and agreed to support ElBaradei, who traveled to Washington Thursday to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House officials. Despite clearing that obstacle, ElBaradei’s re-election was not without minor drama today. Most of the board meeting was absorbed by a procedural conflict, during which Japan opposed moving the ElBaradei decision to the top of the agenda. Meeting Chairwoman Ingrid Hall of Canada had sought the change and all other nations on the 35-member board agreed. While Japan claimed it was unhappy with the procedural precedents that could be set by making last-minute agenda changes, few in the board room doubted there were other explanations, said one Western diplomat. The diplomat speculated that Japan was unhappy with the agenda fiasco at last month’s review conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (see GSN, May 31). At that meeting in New York, treaty parties could not agree on an agenda until nearly two weeks into the monthlong meeting. That agenda debate drew out because NPT meetings virtually require all decisions to be made by consensus, but the same rule does not apply here at the IAEA board meetings. Decisions by vote are possible, but Hall declined to hold a vote on the agenda switch, despite receiving pressure early in the day from 34 of the 35 board members to do so, said another diplomat who participates in the board meetings. “The chair is losing control of the meeting,” the diplomat said at midday, describing a frenzy of dissatisfaction within the board room. Hall ultimately won the day, by successfully obtaining consensus without a vote to move ElBaradei’s re-election to the top of the list. ElBaradei Looks Forward “I am humbled and awed by the unanimous support I received today,” ElBaradei said afterwards. He looked forward to addressing several nonproliferation challenges the agency faces and said he and Washington largely agreed on the issues. “We might once in a while disagree on tactics, but on many objectives, we share the same common view that we need to stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we need to ensure the authority of the agency in terms of verification, we need to have better control over the sensitive fuel cycle and we need to have a more efficient compliance mechanism,” ElBaradei said. Iranian officials appeared to enjoy today’s procedural controversy, as they have been seen as the nation of difficulty at recent IAEA meetings. Senior nuclear negotiator Sirus Naseri atypically roamed the agency halls chatting easily with journalists and decrying the proceedings as “silly.” His lightheartedness could change later in the week, however, when the agency’s head of safeguards is expected to issue a stern report describing Iran’s compliance with agreements to allow the agency to monitor and review its nuclear activities (see related GSN story, today). The agency report is expected to say that Iran has complied with its deal to allow agency inspectors to confirm that it is not conducting any uranium enrichment, wire services reported today. However, the report is also expected to express frustration with Iran’s unwillingness to offer additional access or information. ElBaradei told reporters today that his own statement to the board would note positive and negative aspects of the agency’s effort to learn about Iran’s nuclear program. “I am going to report that Iran has facilitated access to nuclear materials, nuclear sites. I am going to report that Iran has respected its commitment with regard to the suspension of the fuel cycle activities. These are all positive.  I am also going to report that we are making progress with regards to the contamination issue and we are getting good cooperation from Pakistan in that regard. “But I’m also going to say on the issue of the extent and nature of their centrifuge program, we still need additional information from Iran,” he said. This week’s meeting is scheduled to take on several other issues, including Saudi Arabia’s request to receive minimal nuclear oversight from the agency. ElBaradei is expected to address this and other issues in his formal statement to the board tomorrow morning. Back to top       South Korean, U.S. Leaders Play Down Differences on North Korea Nuclear Standoff U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun announced after a meeting Friday in Washington that they were united in their commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, yet still articulated differences in each country’s approach to North Korea’s nuclear program, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, June 10). “Today’s meeting should make it clear that South Korea and the United States are of one voice on this very important issue,” Bush said. Roh, however, referred to differences between Seoul’s and Washington’s approach to halting Pyongyang’s nuclear aspirations, AP reported. South Korea opposes military action against North Korea and has not warmed to talk of referring Pyongyang to the U.N. Security Council. “There are, admittedly, many people who worry about potential discord or cacophony between the two powers of the alliance,” Roh said (Jennifer Loven, Associated Press/Pasadena Star News, June 11). Asked whether he would offer Pyongyang “inducements” to resume disarmament talks, Bush responded, “Yep,” the New York Times reported. Washington has continued to insist, however, that North Korea would have to return to the negotiating table before receiving any specific details on aid that might be provided for renouncing its nuclear work (David Sanger, New York Times, June 11). Roh today expressed optimism about a potential return to six-nation nuclear talks, AP reported. “The six-party talks are going to be resumed — I’m very sure about this,” he said. A South Korean delegation is expected to travel to Pyongyang to discuss the nuclear issue this week, he said (Burt Herman, Associated Press/Washington Post, June 13). Bush told Roh he would establish “more normal relations” with North Korea if it abandons its nuclear program, said South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. Several analysts in South Korea said the Bush-Roh meeting improved chances for a return to talks. “On the whole, the summit enhanced the possibility of the North returning to the six-party talks by improving the atmosphere and providing Pyongyang with reasons to come back to the dialogue table,” said former South Korean Unification Minister Lim Dong-won. Lim said Pyongyang is sensitive about criticism of leader Kim Jong Il. “It may seem trivial but the fact that the U.S. president used the honorific ‘Mr.’ helped improve the atmosphere for dialogue,” he said. Yoon Duk-min of the state-run Institute for Foreign Affairs and National Security agreed. “More clearly than ever before, the ball is now in North Korea’s court,” he said. North Korea could resume talks by the end of next month, said Koh You-hwan, a professor at South Korea’s Dongguk University. “It is quite obvious that the two leaders took pains to send encouraging signs to Pyongyang. The six-party talks may resume as early as in July,” said Koh (Park Chan-kyong, Agence France-Presse, June 12). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the Bush administration’s point man on the North Korea nuclear issue, is expected to arrive in Seoul Wednesday for post-summit policy coordination with Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, Yonhap reported today (Yonhap/BBC Monitoring, June 13). Back to top       Australia, EU and U.S. Pressure Saudi Arabia on Key Nuclear Protocol, IAEA Inspections The United States, the European Union and Australia are urging Saudi Arabia to allow nuclear inspections, despite Riyadh’s desire to sign an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency that would limit such oversight, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, June 2). The EU and Australia were expected to send formal diplomatic notes to Riyadh last weekend requesting that it allow IAEA inspectors to view any nuclear equipment or materials held by Saudi Arabia, diplomats and European officials told AP.  A U.S. diplomatic note had already been delivered, said State Department press officer Tom Casey. In the letter, Washington asked Riyadh to permit inspections “on a voluntary basis,” he said. Senior Saudi foreign policy adviser Adel al-Jubeir last week told AP that Riyadh has “no desire to acquire any type of weapon of mass destruction, period.” There was no comment Friday from the Saudi mission to the U.N. nuclear watchdog (George Jahn, Associated Press/Washington Post, June 10). Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia indicated yesterday that it still wanted to sign a protocol that could limit such inspections, Agence France-Presse reported. “The kingdom wishes to stress its constant desire to cooperate with the IAEA and its commitment to relevant international conventions” including “the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and related agreements, such as the Small Quantities Protocol,” a Foreign Ministry source told the state SPA news agency.  The Small Quantities Protocol allows Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty member states to forgo reporting possession of up to 10 tons of natural uranium and 2.2 pounds of plutonium.  The rule also allows new nuclear facilities to be kept secret until six months prior to operation. Dutch officials are expected to discuss the issue in Riyadh on behalf of the European Union, said a European diplomat. “The request is for Saudi Arabia to go ahead and sign a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the IAEA but not to sign the Small Quantities Protocol,” the diplomat said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 12). Back to top       U.S. Nuclear Power Plants at Risk of Terrorist Attack Lack of training for guards and inadequate security standards could undermine efforts to fend off a terrorist attack on nuclear power plants in the United States, Time magazine reported yesterday (see GSN, April 27). The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressed concern in a document that security standards have been set too low for nuclear plants, according to Agence France-Presse. The commission is also worried that guards lack the training to thwart a large-scale attack. “I don’t think they could handle a 9/11-size attack,” said former NRC senior official David Orrik. “Our training has increased, but I don't think it's increased enough to deal with that,” a power plant guard told Time. “We don't have the weapons or training to stop an attack of that magnitude. ... Everyone feels that way. It's a consensus of opinion,” a second guard said.  Since the Sept 11 attacks, the U.S. government has spent $1 billion to secure nuclear power plants, compared to $20 billion for airport security. “The NRC and the nuclear power industry are today where the [Federal Aviation Administration] and airlines were on Sept. 10, 2001,” said a U.S. counterterrorism official (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo! News, June 12). Back to top       UC Gets Eight-Month Los Alamos Contract Extension The University of California’s contract to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has been extended by eight months to allow time for employees to consider employment options as the federal government prepares to select a new manager for the facility, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, June 1). The contract was scheduled to expire on Sept. 30. It will now last to May 31, and the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has the option of extending the contract until Sept. 30, 2006. Agency chief Linton Brooks said a decision on the laboratory manager is due in November. The six-month transition to the new manager is expected to begin in December, said Los Alamos spokesman Kevin Roark (Associated Press/Albuquerque Journal, June 11). Back to top

U.S. Funds Study on Bioagent Effects on Lungs The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has issued a $15 million grant to the University of New Mexico and Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute to study how biological agents affect the lungs, the Scripps Howard News Service reported Saturday (see GSN, June 1). The affects of agents such as anthrax, smallpox and the plague are expected to be studied over five years. “Basically all these bugs are out there in the wild right now — most of them here in New Mexico,” said Rick Lyons, a professor at the University of New Mexico. “We get plague and tularemia (bacteria) cases every year. What we don’t know now, though, is what these things will do if they attack us in a different way. We never thought in the past they’d be aimed at our lungs, but in biological weapons they are. We just want to understand it more.” Studies will be done on rodents and lung cell cultures, and conducted at biosafety laboratories at the University of New Mexico and Lovelace (Sue Vorenberg, Scripps Howard News Service/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 11). Back to top       South Korea Plans to Revise Law to Meet Obligations Under Biological Weapons Convention South Korea plans to revise a law banning chemical weapons so that it can comply with the international Biological Weapons Convention, Yonhap News reported today (see GSN, March 29). A bill is expected to be submitted to lawmakers this year, and would take effect in June 2006. If the law were changed, South Korea would require new safeguards to prevent biological weapon proliferation. These would include requirements that companies that produce biological agents for commercial purposes report to the government on their activities and follow strict protocol during production. These companies would also be required to report any changes to their manufacturing processes, Yonhap reported. If companies do not follow the new rules, they would not be permitted to continue production and existing agents made by the company would be destroyed (Yonhap News, June 13). Back to top

Newport CW Depot Nerve Agent Spill Contained A spill of 30 gallons of liquid containing VX nerve agent at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Indiana was contained without harming anyone, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, May 31).   Workers used a mixture of water and sodium hydroxide on Saturday to clean the area where the spill occurred. “It is being done very cautiously and deliberately,” said Terry Arthur, spokeswoman for the facility, adding that no workers were hurt. The U.S. Army said in a press release that the spill of a mixture of VX and hydrolysate wastewater occurred when the agent was being loaded into a reactor for neutralization. The nerve agent drained into the “Toxic Cubicle,” a pit in the floor below the reactor that prevents nerve agent from reaching other parts of the facility. It was then routed to a tank which holds used decontamination liquid. This is the first spill at the site since destruction began May 5, Arthur said (Associated Press/Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, June 12). The Army said Friday that 2,894 gallons of VX had been neutralized at the facility. Officials plan to briefly halt operations this week for a review of progress at Newport (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency press release, June 10). Back to top       Dutch Businessman Tied to Iraqi Chemical Sales May Face Genocide, War Crimes Charges A Dutch court Friday said a businessman accused of supplying chemical weapons precursors to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could continue to be held in custody, allowing prosecutors additional time to interview witnesses in an attempt to establish a link to what they called Iraq’s policy “aimed at destroying, in whole or in part, an ethnic minority,” the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 18). Frans van Anraat faces allegations of war crimes and complicity in genocide because the chemicals he sold were used by the Hussein regime in mustard and nerve gas attacks against Iran and Kurdish villages within Iraq, according to AP. Jan Peter van Schaik, Van Anraat’s lead counsel, said his client had not known the chemicals were intended for military use (Anthony Deutsch, Associated Press, June 10).             Back to top

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