U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, (left), shakes hands with North Korean chief negotiator Kim Kye Gwan (right), as South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon looks on in Beijing earlier today. North Korea today agreed to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic and energy aid and security assurances (Getty Images/Ng Han Guan). North Korea Agrees to End Nuclear Program North Korea has agreed to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for energy assistance, economic cooperation and security guarantees, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Sept. 16). Pyongyang “committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date” to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, according to a joint statement released today by the parties in the six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear program...Full Story

IAEA Board Takes on Iran Again By Greg Webb and Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire VIENNA — Two days after Iran’s newly elected president reasserted his nation’s right to produce nuclear fuel in the future, the chief of the world’s nuclear oversight agency said today Tehran must provide more information about its past programs before the agency could declare that Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful (see GSN, Sept. 16)...Full Story

Pentagon Pre-Emptive Nuclear Attack Plan Far From Finished, Senior Official Says The U.S. Defense Department has not finalized plans to allow military officials to seek presidential approval to use nuclear weapons to block WMD strikes against the United States or its allies, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Sept. 12)...Full Story

	Monday, September 19, 2005

U.S. Secretary of State Meets Senior Libyan Official U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Saturday with Libyan Foreign Minister Abd al-Rahman Shalgam, the highest-level diplomatic contact between Tripoli and Washington since Libya agreed to give up its WMD programs in 2003, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 26). “Libya made a historic decision to get rid of its weapons of mass destruction and I think that it is paying off for Libya in the sense that American companies are there, that we are having this meeting and that we are talking about how to continue and push forward our relationship,” Rice said “It has been a good thing for the world and for the international community to see the leadership of Libya and your leader making this historic decision, and a decision that was taken for peace,” she said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 18). Back to top       U.K. Reviews WMD Response Team Funding The United Kingdom is considering whether to continue funding for its Multi-Agency Initial Assessment Team established last year to respond to a biological, chemical or radiological attack, the London Times reported today (see GSN, Oct. 16, 2001). British security agencies expected funding for the 48-person unit to be maintained after a $5.4 million yearlong pilot project, according to the Times. “We always said that the program will be reviewed after the first year,” said a Home Office spokesman (The Times, Sept. 19). Sources told The Mirror newspaper that funding for the team is expected to expire in November. “We could be looking at a doomsday scenario where police, paramedics and firefighters are walking into the face of a biological attack without warning,” one team insider said (The Mirror, Sept. 19). Back to top       Toronto Tests Emergency Response Services Emergency response teams in Toronto yesterday responded to the simulated explosion of a radioactive device in a subway station and another bomb in an office building, the Canadian Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 12). The test took place in the city’s financial district and included officers in hazardous materials gear transporting victims to a decontamination site, according to Canadian Press. The response exercise tested response to the explosion of a radiological bomb by a terrorist organization near the St. Andrew’s subway station. “It was a radioactive device … which contaminated the subway car,” said Toronto Emergency Management’s Gregory Stasyna. “Whilst carrying out a rescue at that site, (another) explosion went off at a second site, a couple blocks down the road (at the Royal Trust Tower),” he explained. “That was a hydrogen cyanide weapon, which was detonated in a stairwell and thus trapped and injured a number of people.” Rescue workers entered buildings to locate victims, and then brought them outside for decontamination. Response personnel included police, firefighters, paramedics and Toronto’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear team, according to Canadian Press. “We wanted to test how the joint chemical biological team could respond to both sites and how we would command and control at two or more sites,” Stasyna said (Mike Oliveira, Canadian Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 18). The Toronto test came as Oliver Revell, former counterintelligence director at the FBI, warned that Canada was taking a lackadaisical approach to counterterrorism, the Edmonton Sun reported Saturday. “I love Canada, always have,” Revell said. “But the naivete there has always been of great concern to me. Burying your head in the sand and expecting problems to always happen somewhere else simply doesn't work, and the price will be difficult for Canadians to accept, perhaps even more so than it was for us after Sept. 11.” People need to be on the watch for suspicious behavior, said Reid Morden, former chief of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. “Be a little prudent,” he said. “On mass transit, for example, in New York there is a looped recording on every bus and subway train saying, ‘If you see an unattended parcel, do something about it: talk to a transit employee or call a cop.’ What’s the deterrent effect?  I'm not so sure. But just for that nanosecond, it reminds people to be vigilant and pay attention.” “If you just look around downtown Edmonton or Toronto or Calgary there are so many potential targets,” Morden continued. “But you don't have to do very much to make them more unattractive. You be prudent.  You check the lock on the water supply to the building. And maybe all you need is a slightly better lock. Or, on the same grounds, you want to make sure access is restricted to the heating or air conditioning.” Canada needs to do more to prepare for a terrorist attack, said Alan Bell, a former British Special Air Service officer who now runs Globe Risk Holdings. “I've been saying for seven years, from before 9/11, that we will eventually have an attack here. And people call me a fear monger,” he said.   “But it's just the likely reality. We'll get a bloody nose, the public will be terrified, the government will start blaming other people and talking about how much money they've spent trying to prevent terrorism.” “They'll continue the knee-jerk reactions of spending where they don't need to and not spending where they do,” he said. “They'll keep throwing money at domestic law enforcement and ignoring emergency response workers — who need the money most, because we can't prevent attacks and will need them to react — and foreign intelligence.” “The average Canadian has a typical deny-and-repress syndrome. We know there's a problem, but it hasn't happened here yet, so we're gonna deny it's a problem and throw money at it, and hope it goes away. But it won’t,” he said (Jeremy Loome, Edmonton Sun, Sept. 17). Back to top       Australian Prime Minister Laments Failure to Achieve U.N. Nonproliferation Agreement Australian Prime Minister John Howard today expressed regret that the United Nations failed to include language on stemming WMD proliferation in its document prepared for last week’s summit in New York, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 19). Howard added that, since the United Nations was unable to forge a strategy, efforts such as the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative have “an increasingly important role in the fight against proliferation.” “The resolve of participating countries in PSI sends a clear signal to proliferators that their activities will not only not be tolerated — but that they will be stopped,” he said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 19). Back to top

North Korea Agrees to End Nuclear Program North Korea has agreed to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for energy assistance, economic cooperation and security guarantees, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Sept. 16). Pyongyang “committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date” to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, according to a joint statement released today by the parties in the six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. According to the statement, North Korea’s negotiating partners recognized its right to a peaceful nuclear program and “agreed to discuss at an appropriate time the subject of the provision of light-water reactor to the D.P.R.K.”   The five nations — China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States — also “stated their willingness” to provide Pyongyang with energy assistance. Pyongyang and Washington agreed to recognize each other’s sovereignty and pledged to work toward normalized relations, AP reported.   “The United States affirmed that it has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and has no intention to attack or invade (North Korea) with nuclear or conventional weapons,” the statement says. Japan and North Korea will also seek to normalize relations, according to the statement. All six nations pledged bilateral and multilateral cooperation in energy, trade and investment in exchange for North Korean denuclearization. U.S. President George W. Bush called the agreement “a step forward” in the negotiation process, but said North Korea must allow for verification of future actions taken under the pledge. Pyongyang must “understand we're serious about this and that we expect there to be a verifiable process,” Bush said, according to Reuters. “The question is, over time, will all parties adhere to the agreement?” he added (Adam Entous, Reuters/Yahoo!News, Sept. 19). The top U.S. envoy to the talks in Beijing, which today reached their seventh day, urged Pyongyang to end operations at its Yongbyon nuclear facility. “What is the purpose of operating it at this point?” said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. “The time to turn it off would be about now.” Hill remained cautious on whether the agreement would resolve the standoff. “We have to see what comes in the days and weeks ahead. We have to seize the momentum of this,” he said. Talks are scheduled to resume in early November to begin discussing implementation of the agreement. “Agreeing to a common document does not mean that the solution to our problems has been found,” said Japan’s chief envoy, Kenichiro Sasae (Burt Herman, Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, Sept. 19). This round of negotiations began Sept. 13. The Chinese delegation introduced a compromise proposal Friday, after North Korea continued to oppose a draft that did not include its demand for a light-water reactor for generating electricity, the Washington Post reported today. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing spoke by telephone with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last night, the official New China News Agency reported (Edward Cody, Washington Post, Sept. 19). Hill said resolving the issue of civilian nuclear technology would take time. “We’ll have discussions on the issue of peaceful [nuclear] energy, particularly the subject of provision of a light-water nuclear reactor, but only at an appropriate time,” he said. “And that appropriate time is once the D.P.R.K. has gotten back to the NPT in good standing and gotten back into the NPT with IAEA safeguards,” he added. Establishing a verification regime would be handled at the next round of negotiations, he said. “I would say that the key element of the November discussions will be the verification regime and clearly this will involve international verification, the IAEA. We’ll have to do some early consultation to see how that will work,” said Hill (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 19). IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei hailed the agreement. “It constitutes a balanced package in my view that addresses both the security needs of North Korea as well as the concerns of the international community about North Korean nuclear activities,” he said today during the IAEA Board of Governors Meeting in Vienna. ElBaradei said he would make contact with representatives of the six negotiating nations on having IAEA inspectors return to North Korea. “Clearly the earlier we go back the better,” he said (Greg Webb, Global Security Newswire, Sept. 19). In coming to agreement, the six nations avoided an escalation of the standoff in which Pyongyang might have been referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions — a move that North Korea has warned would be considered an act of war, Reuters reported. “When you think what might have happened if the talks had fallen apart, they have avoided a very serious situation,” said Masao Okonogi, a Korea specialist at Tokyo’s Keio University. However, the joint statement does not address the disagreement over whether energy aid and security guarantees would be granted to Pyongyang before or after it dismantles its nuclear programs. “The agreement allows participants in the talks to interpret it as they like, yet no issue has been resolved,” said Lee Dong-bok, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The discussion on the light-water reactor issue has been simply delayed and we don’t know when that will be. The issue may emerge again when they begin discussing details,” Lee said (Brian Rhoads, Reuters, Sept. 19). Back to top       IAEA Board Takes on Iran Again By Greg Webb and Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire VIENNA — Two days after Iran’s newly elected president reasserted his nation’s right to produce nuclear fuel in the future, the chief of the world’s nuclear oversight agency said today Tehran must provide more information about its past programs before the agency could declare that Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful (see GSN, Sept. 16). “Because of the history of the Iranian program, because we need to reconstruct 20 years of concealed activities, Iran needs to go out of its way and provide additional transparency measures, more than they have provided in the past, for us to be able to clarify, understand, and confirm the nature of Iran’s program,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters this morning at the outset of a quarterly meeting of the agency’s governing board. The Iranian nuclear issue has heated up recently as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, with U.S. support, today were circulating a draft board resolution that would report the matter to the U.N. Security Council for consideration, Reuters reported. Once there, Iran could become subject to economic sanctions or other penalties if the council concludes that its nuclear activities are not entirely peaceful. Typically, the agency Board of Governors makes decisions by consensus, but the EU nations are reportedly interested in seeking a Security Council referral decision by a simple majority vote if necessary (see GSN, Sept. 14). The latest EU push follows a Saturday speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who argued for Iran’s right to produce nuclear fuel and issued a not-so-veiled threat to nations that would oppose Tehran’s programs. “Regrettably we are going through a period of confrontation and political brinkmanship,” ElBaradei said this morning. IAEA Push ElBaradei pressed Iran to offer more transparency to assuage international concerns. The agency needs more cooperation from Iran in several areas, “including access to certain sites, including access to certain individuals, including making a number of documents available,” ElBaradei said. In a report to the board issued earlier this month, ElBaradei highlighted areas that still concern the agency, particularly the history of Iran’s effort to acquire uranium enrichment centrifuges. How quickly the agency gives Iran a clean report would depend on the level of Iran’s cooperation, he said, but full clearance by the agency could not be achieved quickly. “We need to continue our redundancy verification activities in Iran over an extended period of time before we are able to say that everything is clear. That takes us a long time in any other country because that is an important conclusion and we do not reach it lightly. I’ve said before it will possibly take a longer time in Iran, but the more transparency we get, the quicker we can reach that conclusion,” ElBaradei said. The agency is also under pressure to investigate a series of claims from Iranian dissidents that Tehran’s nuclear program includes a number of covert facilities (see GSN, Sept. 7). The latest claims, made by an Iranian exile, assert that Iran is burrowing secret tunnels around the country to conceal nuclear equipment and activities, according to the Associated Press. Iran’s Nuclear ‘Proposal’ In his speech Saturday to the General Assembly, Ahmadinejad presented a crisis resolution plan that Iranian diplomats advertised beforehand as a major new proposal. The main feature the plan, he said, called for Iran “to engage in serious partnership with private and public sectors of other countries in the implementation of uranium enrichment,” as a way to “further confidence-building measure[s] and in order to provide the greatest degree of transparency.” The details of this partnership, however, remain unclear, and diplomats at the agency here have not received any details. At a news conference after his speech, Ahmadinejad did not explain what his proposal meant or which countries he had in mind. Diplomats tiptoed around the lack of detail. “It’s general in character; we need to understand what and how this proposal means in actual terms,” ElBaradei said today. Iran’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Mohamed Mahdi Akhondzeh, said today that Tehran would provide technical details of the plan next week. One nonproliferation expert said the little that Ahmadinejad had described of his plan would surely be “a nonstarter for the Europeans.” “The proposal didn’t contain anything new. They made this suggestion a long time ago,” said Gary Samore, a former Clinton administration nonproliferation official who is now vice president of the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago. “That they would allow international control or ownership of nuclear facilities would be rejected because Iran has a history of nationalizing industries,” and therefore it is unlikely that outside firms or nations would participate, he said. Ahmadinejad also reiterated Iran’s right to have its own nuclear facilities, particularly the ability to manufacture nuclear fuel, and urged the world to accept that right. Iran has claimed that its pursuit of uranium enrichment technology would be used to make fuel for a civilian nuclear power program, but U.S. officials have cautioned that the same enrichment facilities could produce nuclear-weapon materials. The Iranian president rejected EU proposals to guarantee the supply of nuclear fuel — if Iran agreed not to produce its own. “International precedence tells us that nuclear fuel delivery contracts are unreliable and no legally binding document or instrument exists to guarantee the delivery of nuclear fuel. On many occasions such bilateral contracts have either been suspended or stopped altogether for political reasons,” he said in his speech. Calling proliferation concerns over Iran “a propaganda ploy” led by “hegemonic powers,” Ahmadinejad warned that the international community should support his country’s plans. “If some try to impose their will on the Iranian people through resort to a language of force and threat to Iran, we will reconsider our entire approach to the nuclear issue,” he said. Western officials said the threat would backfire and would instead firm up opposition to Iran, the Washington Post reported today. At his post-speech press conference, however, Ahmadinejad denied using a threatening tone. “I try to dissect the threats that are threatening different nations, I try to identify the root causes and how we can eradicate them.” “We don't go looking for danger,” he said. “Nevertheless, in accordance with international law we insist on the right of our people.”  To defend Iran’s rights “We have many things, many instruments, we are [a] bold, courageous culture. We have economic, we have political power,” he said. “This is purely a political campaign of little interest,” Ahmadinejad said of the push to have the Security Council consider Iran’s case. “When you see that one country or a number of countries are threatening the international community with referral to the Security Council, the Security Council is distancing from its real role and it is being turned into an instrument to further the intention of a number of countries.” In addition, Ahmadinejad sought to clarify earlier-reported remarks that Iran would be willing to share nuclear technology with other Islamic nations. He said he had been misquoted, but said that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty nevertheless “obliged” its parties to help other treaty members develop peaceful nuclear technology. “All of our activities are conducted in the context of the regulations of the agency, they are supervised and will be supervised by the agency,” he said. Greg Webb reported from Vienna and Jim Wurst from New York. Back to top       Pentagon Pre-Emptive Nuclear Attack Plan Far From Finished, Senior Official Says The U.S. Defense Department has not finalized plans to allow military officials to seek presidential approval to use nuclear weapons to block WMD strikes against the United States or its allies, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Sept. 12). A senior Pentagon official said the draft nuclear weapons doctrine “is a long way from being done. It has a lot of reviews to go through and several changes have already taken place.” Representative David Hobson (R-Ohio) said the plan was “disturbing” and represented “old, Cold War thinking.” He said Pentagon officials last week told him that discussions on the document were ongoing.  “I'm hopeful more rational minds will look at this,” he said. “It is a very provocative proposal.” The draft document would provide instructions on obtaining approval to use nuclear weapons to stop an attack with a weapon of mass destruction. Leaders of hostile countries and terrorist groups must “believe the United States has both the ability and will to pre-empt or retaliate promptly with responses that are credible and effective,” the document states. The document has drawn criticism from nuclear arms control experts. Some said official plans for use of a nuclear weapon increase the chance they will be used, while others said the document makes it difficult to convince non-nuclear states not to manufacture nuclear weapons, the Post reported. Hobson said nuclear negotiations would be hard “with these kinds of policies out in public.”  A former senior military official said provisions allowing for pre-emptive use of nuclear arms have been included in classified nuclear doctrine documents before. Including the language in an unclassified draft document “represents the lack of expertise on the part of some Pentagon staff members,” he said (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Sept. 19). Back to top       Russia Dismantles Rail-Based Missile System Russia on Friday finished dismantling a rail-based ballistic missile system at the Strategic Missile Troops central repair facility in Bryansk, Interfax-AVN reported (see GSN, Aug. 16). “It is the seventh facility of this kind to be dismantled this year.” a Russian Defense Ministry official told Interfax.   “The process was finished today.” Two more systems are expected to be scrapped by the end of the year. All work is organized in front of U.S. inspectors, according to Interfax (Interfax-AVN/Rednova.com, Sept. 16). Back to top

Two Claims by Former Army Scientist Named in Anthrax Investigation Dismissed from Federal Lawsuit Two claims that former Army scientist Steven Hatfill made against the U.S. Justice Department after being identified as a “person of interest” in the 2001 anthrax attacks were dismissed Friday by a federal judge, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, July 29). However, the decision allows room for Hatfill to hold officials accountable for statements made about him, according to the Post. Hatfill, in a lawsuit against the Justice Department, the FBI, former Attorney General John Ashcroft and others, said false information leaked to the press damaged his reputation and chances of finding a job. Ashcroft, former FBI official Van Harp and Justice Department employees Timothy Beres and Daryl Darnell had asked the court to reject three claims holding them individually responsible. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton dismissed two claims. However, he affirmed the third, which asks the court to declare that Ashcroft and the other officials hurt Hatfill’s chances to finding employment. This claim does not seek financial compensation, but would bar officials from future violations, the Post reported. Walton did not rule on a fourth claim, in which Hatfill sought money from the federal government on allegations that it violated the Privacy Act. One of Hatfill’s lawyers said that his client’s lawsuit focuses on privacy violation allegations. “Thanks to Judge Walton's ruling, Dr. Hatfill can now proceed not only against the government itself, but against individual government officials whose actions deprived him of his constitutional rights,” said attorney Mark Grannis (Carol Leonnig, Washington Post, Sept. 17). Back to top       Kansas Mail Facility to Begin Using Anthrax Detector The U.S. Postal Service mail-processing facility in Wichita, Kan., is expected to being using a system to detect anthrax in the mail on Friday, the Wichita Eagle reported (see GSN, Sept. 16). The Biohazard Detection System in the Wichita facility joins systems already being used in Topeka and Kansas City, Kan. It is one of 218 in use across the country, according to the Eagle. Systems used at Postal Service sites have screened more than 22 billion pieces of mail, said Sharon Allen, manager of the Wichita processing and distribution center. “We have never had a false positive,” Allen said (Stan Finger, Wichita Eagle, Sept. 17).   Back to top

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