A North Korean boat moves goods last month on the Yalu River separating North Korea and China. Concerns over trade with China may have led Pyongyang to return to the nuclear negotiating table (Liu Jin/Getty Images). U.S., Japan Prepare Hard Line for North Korea Nuclear Talks The United States and Japan plan to demand in resumed six-party talks that North Korea pledge immediately to stop all nuclear testing and prepare a schedule for eliminating its nuclear weapons complex, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Nov. 1). Additional demands will be that Pyongyang rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and allow international inspectors into the country to study and track the North’s nuclear activities...Full Story

Russia, U.S. Discuss New Path for CW Disposal Plant By Jon Fox, Global Security Newswire MOSCOW — U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction officials met with their Russian counterparts yesterday to discuss a new strategy to enable work to resume on the unfinished chemical weapon destruction plant at Shchuchye (see GSN, June 30)...Full Story

Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Could Finish Early The Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Indiana could finish its mission to eliminate 250,000 tons of VX nerve agent before the scheduled completion target of spring 2008, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, May 30)...Full Story

	Thursday, November 2, 2006

Airline Plotters Meant to Strike U.S. Cities The suspected plotters of the foiled plan to detonate liquid explosives in passenger airliners meant to bring the planes down over U.S. cities in order to increase the loss of life and economic damage, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Aug. 25). It had earlier been believed that up to 10 airplanes were to be blown up over the Atlantic Ocean while flying between the United Kingdom and the United States. “The plan was to bring them down over U.S. cities, not over the ocean,” FBI New York field office chief Mark Mershon said Oct. 24 at a security conference, according to Government Security News. The alleged plot originated in the United Kingdom, where authorities arrested 25 people in a series of raids in August.  Conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism charges have been filed against 11 suspects. A British court yesterday ruled there was insufficient evidence to bring two of the suspects to trial.  The judge ordered that brothers Umair and Mehran Hussain be released (Dan Eggen, Washington Post, Nov. 2). The two were suspected of failing to provide information to authorities regarding another brother’s suspected involvement in the plot, the New York Times reported.  Nabeel Hussain faces the conspiracy and terrorism charges. Judge Quentin Purdy warned the two brothers that they could again be charged if prosecutors produced additional evidence of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, a 29-year-old London man was charged yesterday with trying to bring “The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook” and other suspect materials on a flight from Heathrow Airport to Pakistan, the Times reported. Antiterror officers at the airport on Oct. 18 found Sohail Anjum Qureshi carrying the book, $17,000 in cash, two metal batons, a night-vision scope and a combat-training manual contained on a computer hard drive.  Authorities filed three counts of violating British antiterrorism laws against Qureshi, who is suspected of involvement in terrorist plans overseas (Sarah Lyall, New York Times, Nov. 2). Back to top

U.S., Japan Prepare Hard Line for North Korea Nuclear Talks The United States and Japan plan to demand in resumed six-party talks that North Korea pledge immediately to stop all nuclear testing and prepare a schedule for eliminating its nuclear weapons complex, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Nov. 1). Additional demands will be that Pyongyang rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and allow international inspectors into the country to study and track the North’s nuclear activities. Another demand will be that Pyongyang provide a means for outsiders to monitor whether it delivers upon its pledges to disarm, according to the Yomiuri newspaper. The new demands are necessary “because North Korea has made the situation more serious [through its Oct. 9 nuclear test] compared with that surrounding previous talks,” a Foreign Ministry official told the Yomiuri (Associated Press I/USA Today, Nov. 2). Representatives from the six nations involved in the nuclear negotiations — China, Japan, Russia, the United States and North and South Korea — could meet informally before the official talks resume, AP reported. The Yonhap News Agency reported that officials hoped to schedule “unofficial six-party talks” that would pave the way for significant progress at the subsequent meeting.  U.S. and Chinese officials discussed having lead negotiators from the six nations meet in Beijing before the Nov. 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vietnam. However, a senior South Korean official said he does not believe “there is a high possibility” that the informal session would occur, AP reported (Bo-Mi Lim, Associated Press II, Nov. 2). While the White House publicly praised Pyongyang’s decision to return to negotiations, inside the Bush administration there remains strong disagreement in whether North Korea should be engaged or isolated, the New York Times reported today. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faces increasing criticism over her efforts to promote diplomacy with North Korea from administration insiders and observers who believe further talks are doomed to fail. Rice believes that U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea following the nuclear test will give Washington additional leverage in negotiations, the Times reported. Others disagree. “What’s a good description?  Fantasy?  Dreamworld?” said Nicholas Eberstadt, a North Korea expert at the American Enterprise Institute.  “All we’re doing with these hapless efforts at conference diplomacy is continuing to talk while North Korea continues to build nuclear weapons.” “In the past, the one thing we could never be criticized for was whether our tough talk meant something,” said a senior Bush administration official.  “When we gave a stick, they knew we were serious.  We’ve lost that credibility” (Helene Cooper, New York Times, Nov. 2). Analysts said that China’s influence over North Korea, combined with clear indications of its displeasure at the nuclear test, propelled the seeming resumption of negotiations, Agence France-Presse reported. China is a major supplier of oil, food and other crucial supplies to North Korea.  Envoy Tang Jiaxuan probably let Beijing’s feelings about Pyongyang’s recent behavior be known during an Oct. 19 visit, AFP reported. “North Korea has really upset China this time and presumably Tang Jiaxuan’s visit sent a strong message,” said Yuan Jing-dong, a political scientist at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (Verna Yu, Agence France-Presse I, Nov. 2). Another probable major factor in Pyongyang’s agreement to resume negotiations are the financial sanctions pressed by the United States in response to alleged financial wrongdoing, including counterfeiting U.S. currency, the Los Angeles Times reported today. Under pressure from the U.S. Treasury Department, Macau last year froze $24 million in North Korean assets at one bank.  Following the nuclear test, China also required some banks to cease conducting business with Pyongyang. “They’re not coming back because they want to give up nuclear weapons,” said David Asher, former lead State Department official on North Korea.  “They are feeling the financial pressure and the cutoff from the international financial system, so they are trying to make nice” (Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 2). North Korean officials hope that return to talks will lead allow them to gain assets to those frozen funds, AP reported  The U.N. sanctions also ban the export of luxury goods to North Korea, whose leaders are known to enjoy cognac and fine wines (Burt Herman, Associated Press III/ABC News, Nov. 2). The United States plans to form a working group on the financial matter, said U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow. “We have to work together to find a solution because North Korea has to address the concerns that led to those financial measures,” he said today.  “We want to resolve these issues because we do want to have a normal relationship with North Korea” (Bo-Mi Lim, Associated Press IV/USA Today, Nov. 2). Meanwhile, the Security Council has finalized a list of items that North Korea is banned from exporting or importing because they could be used to develop biological, chemical or nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles, AP reported. There are hundreds of items on the three lists, “but if you are translating them into concrete products, it’s really thousands,” said Slovakian Ambassador to the United Nations Peter Burian, chairman of the sanctions committee.  The lists are likely to be updated. All 192 U.N. states must submit reports by Nov. 13 detailing their compliance with the restrictions, which were mandated in the Oct. 14 Security Council resolution (Associated Press V/Yahoo!News, Nov. 2). Back to top       U.N. Sanctions on Iran Still Face Major Opposition Prospects dimmed yesterday for any U.N. Security Council agreement on how to address the Iranian nuclear crisis.  Both Russia and China indicated their opposition to a draft council resolution that would impose sanctions on Tehran, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 1). The draft resolution — crafted by France, Germany and the United Kingdom — would bar trade of nuclear and missile technology with Iran and would impose a travel ban on Iranian officials in those fields.  Both Russia and China, however, hold veto power in the council. “We cannot support measures that in essence are aimed at isolating Iran from the outside world, including isolating people who are called upon to conduct negotiations on the nuclear program,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday. “There are still different views on what kind of actions the council needs to do under the current circumstances,” said Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya. Wang criticized the draft resolution is being too similar to a council resolution passed after North Korea conducted a nuclear test. “The situation, the cases, are slightly different,” he said.  “North Korea had a test and the Iranians always claim their programs are for peaceful use” (Gutterman/Lederer, Associated Press/Houston Chronicle, Nov.2). Meanwhile, a former top Iranian nuclear official cautioned that Tehran might turn away international nuclear inspectors if the Security Council sanctions Iran. “Iran will give a proper answer if they pass such a tough and bad resolution,” former head nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani said yesterday.  “One of the possible answers could be limiting our cooperation with the [International Atomic Energy Agency]” (Reuters/Washington Post, Nov. 1) Back to top       Hundreds of Files Copied in Los Alamos Data Breach More than 400 classified documents from the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory were contained on the computer memory drives confiscated last month during a New Mexico drug bust, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, Nov. 1). Authorities also discovered 228 printed documents, which included classified intelligence and weapons information. The number of documents is greater than previously disclosed by law enforcement agencies, according to the Times. The drives were found at the home of a former contract laboratory worker, 22-year-old Jessica Quintana, who failed to appreciate the importance or the classification level of the information on the drives, her attorney Stephen Aarons said. The documents came from the laboratory’s dynamic experiments division, which tests nuclear weapon components, the Times reported. The laboratory has battled data security breaches for several years and has taken steps to curb any leakage, such as trying to prevent employees from copying classified computer files, according to the Times.  Still, workers retain a significant ability to move files to portable data storage devices, one official told the Times. The latest breach prompted a visit to the laboratory this week by National Nuclear Security Administration head Linton Brooks and Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell, the Times reported (Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 2). Back to top       Belgian FM Presses Pakistan to Open Nuclear Program Pakistan should “cooperate more” with the International Atomic Energy Agency if it wants access to nuclear power technology, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht said yesterday (see GSN, March 21). On a visit to Islamabad, Gucht told reporters that opening some Pakistani nuclear sites to international inspection would support international efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.  Belgium is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group that sets international guidelines on trading nuclear technology. “It will be very important that Pakistan comes back to the International Atomic Energy Agency and come to a regime whereby their civil nuclear plants will be duly inspected by the agency,” he said. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, however, suggested that such a move was unlikely.  Pakistan has openly declared that it has nuclear weapons, he said, so there would be little point to implementing measures designed to detect weapons activity, the Dawn reported (see GSN, Aug. 10; Qudssia Akhlaque, Dawn, Nov. 2).. Back to top       India to Net Modern Technology in U.S. Nuclear Deal India expects to receive modern nuclear technology as part of the pending nuclear trade deal with the United States, the nation’s top atomic official said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 23). Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar sought to rebut domestic critics of the deal who suggested that India would only be allowed to import old technology. Under the terms of the deal, still waiting for approval by the U.S. Congress and the international Nuclear Suppliers Group, India would allow international inspectors to monitor its civilian nuclear power program in exchange for receiving nuclear technology and materials. “We have our own technical experts.  There is no question of India accepting outdated technologies,” Kakodkar said.  “All this will be done after proper evaluation.  There will not be any slackening in the domestic program” (The Hindu, Nov. 1). Back to top

U.S. Continues to Deploy BioWatch Sensors The U.S. Homeland Security Department continues to deploy air sensors in more than 30 urban areas to detect the presence of biological weapons.  The Biowatch program recently sought permission from local leaders in the Miami suburb of Pembroke Pines, Fla., the Miami Herald reported yesterday (see GSN, March 25). The department has spent $79 million this year deploying sensors around the nation, according to spokesman Christopher Kelly, who declined to identify what agents the sensors are designed to detect. Each sensor’s filter is collected daily and tested at laboratories belonging to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Laboratory Response Network, the Herald reported. The potential time lag in detecting a biological agent has drawn criticism. “We’re really not going to have any solutions to these things until we get some sensors that respond immediately and through satellites give a signal immediately,” said Representative John Linder (R-Ga.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Prevention of Biological and Nuclear Attack.  He has called the Biowatch program “nuts” and a poor use of federal funds, according to the Herald. Other analysts have also questioned the merits of the current detectors. “Whether they’re useful, I don’t know,” said Lucian Borio of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh.  “Whether it’s cost effective, I doubt it.   It’s a tremendous amount of investment.  There was a huge rush to implement it.  It hasn’t really been proven” (Jennifer Lebovich, Miami Herald, Nov. 1). Back to top       Report Says U.S. States Have Improved Public Health Preparedness for Major Disaster U.S. states in the last five years have significantly increased their ability to quickly and effectively manage public health threats such as an anthrax attack or disease outbreak, according to a report released yesterday by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (see GSN, Oct. 5). “A tremendous federal investment in improving our nation’s preparedness for bioterrorism and other public health events has been made since 2001.  Its results are reflected in the enormous strides states have made in upgrading their surveillance and epidemiological capacities, improving communication and information networks, expanding medical surge capacity, upgrading their laboratories, and training and educating their staff and the public,” said association Executive Director Paul Jarris in a press release. All U.S. states, according to the release, now have:  the capacity at all times to investigate urgent disease reports, plans for receiving and distributing drugs from the Strategic National Stockpile, detailed public health response plans, quarantine authority and surge capacity plans, among other improvements, the organization said (Association of State and Territorial Health Officials/Ascribe Newswire, Nov. 1). Back to top

Russia, U.S. Discuss New Path for CW Disposal Plant By Jon Fox, Global Security Newswire MOSCOW — U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction officials met with their Russian counterparts yesterday to discuss a new strategy to enable work to resume on the unfinished chemical weapon destruction plant at Shchuchye (see GSN, June 30). A U.S. participant at the meeting described the outcome as positive and said U.S. officials and Russian representatives from the Federal Industry Agency are scheduled to meet here again today regarding the plan.  The U.S. source spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not expressly authorized to discuss the talks. The United States has committed more than $1 billion for the project.  However, work at the sprawling facility east of the Ural Mountains in Siberia has been stalled for more than a year, due to the failure to award a crucial contract to build the disassembly line that would drain 5,400 tons of nerve agent from stockpiled munitions.  The chemicals are then to be neutralized and encased in an asphalt-like substance. Washington has refused to award the contract to Russian subcontractors, who returned bids on the project that were initially more than six times the cost estimated by U.S. officials. U.S. officials estimate the cost of the work to be roughly $60 million, but the lowest initial bid from Russian construction firms was $389 million, the U.S. participant said.  After seven months, the United States was able to elicit a $100 million bid, but that was still seen as a prohibitive figure. “We’ve had some problems, some big problems, and the problems resolve on not getting a fair and reasonable price,” the U.S. observer said.  “We’ve had almost 18 months now where we’ve tried to award this contract.” The new plan would enable Russian officials to deal directly with Russian firms, removing U.S. middlemen.  The hope is that the Russian government would be better able to negotiate a fair price with Russian companies, he said. The Shchuchye project is one of seven chemical weapon destruction facilities planned in Russia as Moscow struggles to eliminate the chemical weapon arsenal built up under the Soviet regime.  The remote facility was originally scheduled for a 2005 completion date, but the timeframe was pushed back to 2008.  Now, some arms control experts have begun to doubt whether that schedule remains feasible. “There is a question whether that is possible or realistic at this point,” said James Harrison, the deputy counterproliferation and arms control director with the British Defense Ministry.  Harrison was in Moscow attending a public forum on Russian chemical weapons destruction. The United States and Russia are pushing to deal with their chemical weapons legacies while meeting a series of benchmarks set under the Chemical Weapons Convention.  Both nations hope to have 20 percent of their stockpiles eliminated by April 2007, 45 percent dealt with by the end of 2009 and the entire store of chemical weapons eradicated by April 2012. Earlier this year, however, the United States indicated that it would miss the final 2012 deadline under the treaty by at least five years (see GSN, April 18).  Russian officials say Moscow is still committed to meeting the final cutoff date, though experts believe that is unlikely. The U.S. participant at yesterday’s meeting expressed a continued commitment to the Shchuchye project tempered with an increasing frustration.  “We don’t want to go home not having finished, and right now we’re just very tired,” he said. After more than a year of being unable to award a contract, U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction officials in Moscow began to brainstorm, searching for a way forward, the source said. In late June, shortly after the Government Accountability Office released a report documenting lagging progress on the project, a Defense Department official said he expected to receive an acceptable bid within weeks.  That turned out to be the $100 million bid. A number of European nations, along with Canada, have contributed money to the project, but U.S. cash makes up the lion’s share of funding.  Total foreign contributions provide 58 percent of funding, according a representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The U.S. participant made it clear that the proposal would not involve simply handing the project over to Russian officials to be funded by the remaining U.S. money.  Rather, Washington hopes to structure the emerging deal in such a way that the United States retains oversight and releases funds only as work is completed to its satisfaction.  “Now it’s a question of how do we get there,” the U.S. observer said. Back to top       Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Could Finish Early The Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Indiana could finish its mission to eliminate 250,000 tons of VX nerve agent before the scheduled completion target of spring 2008, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, May 30). The facility as of yesterday had neutralized almost one-third of the VX stored in bulk containers at the Newport Chemical Depot. Work began in May 2005, but was beset early on by leaks that led to delays of days or weeks in operations.  Engineers used those setbacks to improve chemical reactors at the facility and increase the rate of destruction, according to Jeff Brubaker, Army site manager at the depot. Pumps and piping used in disposal are now less likely to become damaged and more easily maintained. “It’s a simpler configuration, easier to access in protective clothing and it requires only one-third of the time to repair,” Brubaker said.  “It’s a significant improvement.” Only 4 percent of the VX stockpile had been eliminated by the end of 2005, AP reported.  Following upgrades, contractors have neutralized more than 25 percent of the agent (Rick Callahan, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 2). Back to top       NIH Funds Mustard Agent Treatment Research Two New Jersey schools have received $19.2 million from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to develop treatments for people exposed to mustard blister agent, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, April 6, 2005). The UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University plan to use the money to support a new research facility.  Faculty from both schools will work there, along with researchers from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. “We will develop drugs that can be used against actual chemicals that could be used in a terror attack,” said center director Jeffrey Laskin of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “We are quite hopeful that drugs will be available in the foreseeable future,” he said (Associated Press/phillyBurbs.com, Nov. 1). Similar facilities are already operating in Colorado, Maryland and New Mexico, The Express-Times of New Jersey reported (Precious Petty, The Express-Times, Nov. 2). Back to top

Iran Tests Shahab 3 Missile Iran tested at least one Shahab 3 ballistic missile today on the first day of a 10-day military exercise, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, May 24). It was the first time the 2,000-kilometer-range missile has been launched during a larger exercise, according to AFP.  The launch was part of a group of missile tests, Iranian state television said. “Dozens of Shahab 2 and 3, Zolfaghar 73, Scud B, Fath 110 and Zelzal [missiles] have been launched in the presence of [Revolutionary Guards chief] Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi and other high-ranking commanders,” the television report said. The test closely followed U.S.-led naval maneuvers in the Persian Gulf this week as part of the Proliferation Security Initiative, an effort to intercept WMD cargo at sea (see GSN, Oct. 30; Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 2). Back to top

Poland to Weigh Russian Opinion on Missile Defense Poland is considering Russia’s opposition to placement of a U.S. missile defense installation near its borders as it decides whether to house the site, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 6). “The Russian Federation has made its position known and Russia is a very important neighbor of ours, and we take the views of our neighbors into consideration,” said Polish Defense Minister Radek Sikorski. While accepting the missile defense base would strengthen Warsaw’s ties with Washington, it could create additional tension with Moscow, which supplies large portions of Poland’s natural gas and oil.  Russian officials have pledged to take action in response to a Polish missile defense facility, AP reported. “We would view that as an unfriendly gesture on behalf of the United States, some Eastern European nations and NATO as a whole.  Such actions would require taking adequate retaliatory measures of military and political character,” Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky wrote in an Oct. 17 article published in the Izvestia daily (Vanessa Gera, Associated Press/San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 1).   Back to top

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