Daniel Glaser, a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department, speaks to reporters in Beijing, where he met with North Korean officials about Pyongyang’s frozen assets (Frederic Brown/Getty Images). U.S. Negotiator Indicates Progress at North Korea Talks U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill today indicated some progress was being made following the third day of six-party talks aimed at defusing the North Korean nuclear standoff, Reuters reported (see GSN, Dec. 19). Negotiators hope to “get an agreement that would constitute a first batch of elements for implementation” of the September 2005 agreement in which Pyongyang agreed in principle to eliminate its weapons program.  ..Full Story

President Signs Bill to Implement Additional Protocol By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush signed legislation Monday to allow international inspectors greater access to U.S. civilian nuclear facilities (see GSN, Aug. 17)...Full Story

Anthrax Vaccine Contract Axed The U.S. Health and Human Services Department yesterday canceled its $877.5 million contract with California biotechnology firm VaxGen Inc. for delivery of a new anthrax vaccine, the San Jose Mercury News reported (see GSN, Dec. 19)...Full Story

	Wednesday, December 20, 2006

New York Port Still Vulnerable, Study Finds Additional federal support is needed to ensure the Port of New York and New Jersey is secured against the threat of a terrorist attack, a 20-member task force said Monday (see GSN, Oct. 13). “The federal government must realize the vulnerabilities that our ports face and work with us to identify new ways to reduce risk,” Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia said in a release. More than 1.8 million shipping containers pass through the port annually, making it the third busiest U.S. port and the largest in terms of value of the goods moving through it, the Bergen County (N.J.) Record reported. The Port Authority has made more than $85 million in security improvements using its own money since Sept. 11, 2001.  It has received another $21.7 million in federal funding for its work. In a set of five recommendations, the task force urged the federal government to move toward monitoring every shipping container, to create a new federal position called the national port and cargo security director, and to help support these measures by charging shippers a user fee for each container they send through the port. “We must continually get closer to scanning 100 percent of cargo containers,” Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said Monday.  “Ports are the gateways to our nation’s economy, and therefore securing them is not only a national security objective but also an economic imperative” (Tom Davis, Bergen County Record, Dec. 19). Back to top

British Leaders Doubted 45 Minutes Claim on Iraq Senior British government officials doubted the intelligence assessment that prewar Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 13, 2004). “Perhaps people began to quickly think ‘I’m not sure about that,” she said on BBC Radio 4. The statement was of “little relevance” and used just one time, Beckett said, according to the London Daily Telegraph. It was included in the September 2002 government dossier released in an attempt to build public support for the U.S.-led invasion. Prime Minister Tony Blair noted the assessment in a parliamentary debate that month, and it was prominently featured in several newspapers, the Telegraph reported. While the claim was not used afterward, neither was it withdrawn before the March 2003 invasion, Beckett said. “Nobody thought it was relevant.  Nobody thought it was actually a big sweeping statement,” she said. London and Washington made the existence of Iraqi WMD programs one of the primary reasons for the invasion.  No evidence of operational programs has been found since then. No one argued that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the United Kingdom, Beckett said (see GSN, Dec. 18).  “What we put was the argument that he was a threat to that region and that he had the ambition to be a threat to the wider world,” she said (George Jones, The Daily Telegraph, Dec. 20). Back to top

U.S. Negotiator Indicates Progress at North Korea Talks U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill today indicated some progress was being made following the third day of six-party talks aimed at defusing the North Korean nuclear standoff, Reuters reported (see GSN, Dec. 19). Negotiators hope to “get an agreement that would constitute a first batch of elements for implementation” of the September 2005 agreement in which Pyongyang agreed in principle to eliminate its weapons program.  In return, it would receive security guarantees and economic and energy assistance. Diplomats are “working out implementation of some of the issues” in the agreement, Hill said.  Issues being addressed include the sequencing of actions by North Korea and the other nations; Pyongyang wants to receive incentives before disarmament, while Washington argues that dismantlement of the nuclear program must begin first. The six nations could issue a statement by the end of this week, Reuters reported. “Nothing is agreed unless everything is agreed,” Hill said following the day’s meetings, which included another direct session with lead North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan.  The two are set to meet again tomorrow (Reuters I/Yahoo!News, Dec. 20). In a meeting yesterday with Kim, Hill reportedly offered a four-stage proposal that would mix weapons dismantlement with rewards, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Pyongyang would first receive security guarantees upon shuttering its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allowing U.N. nuclear officials to inspect the facility, according to the Yonhap News Agency.  If North Korea then opened its entire nuclear infrastructure to inspections, it could receive food, energy and economic support.  Ultimately, it would eliminate its entire nuclear program and allow for ongoing inspections, a source said. “There have been many reports regarding U.S. intentions, but this is the first concrete proposal made at an official dialogue table,” a source told Yonhap. Kim made no direct response, but repeated North Korea’s demand that the United States end all financial sanctions against the Stalinist regime (Deutsche Press-Agentur, Dec. 20). Hill acknowledged yesterday that negotiators “went through some really specific ideas as to how to get going on implementing the joint statement,” Reuters reported. Lead Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae said there remained a large gap between the positions of North Korea and those of the other nations — China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. “At this point in time I cannot say anything optimistic.  But I hope North Korea will respond more positively tomorrow,” he said yesterday. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Department representatives yesterday spent three hours discussing Washington’s sanctions against Pyongyang with North Korean financial officials. “These discussions have been a good opportunity for an initial exchange of views,” U.S. delegation chief Daniel Glaser said after the meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.  “If these talks are to be really productive, this is going to have to be a long-term process by which we all work to address the fundamental underlying concerns.” Another meeting was scheduled for today (Beck/Ueno, Reuters II/Yahoo!News, Dec. 19). The United States in 2005 threatened to bar U.S. institutions from doing business with Banco Delta Asia in Macau over allegations it helped launder money acquired by North Korean entities through counterfeiting of U.S. currency and other illegal activity.  That led the bank to freeze $24 million of Pyongyang’s money (see GSN, Nov. 29). The White House indicated yesterday that a quick elimination of economic sanctions is not in the offing, Agence France-Presse reported. “The conditions are pretty clear.  We’re not going to change what they need to do,” said spokesman Tony Snow (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 19). “For there to be progress on these (financial) issues, this will have to be met with the same seriousness of purpose on the other (North Korean) side,” a senior U.S. official told Reuters.  “It can’t be viewed as some game where people thing we’re just going to make some sort of concession … just to get somewhere in some other negotiation” (Reuters III/New York Times, Dec. 20). Back to top       President Signs Bill to Implement Additional Protocol By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. President George W. Bush signed legislation Monday to allow international inspectors greater access to U.S. civilian nuclear facilities (see GSN, Aug. 17). The measure to implement the Additional Protocol to the U.S. nuclear safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency was included in legislation paving the way for a U.S.-Indian nuclear trade agreement. The new law moves the United States closer to bringing the protocol into force, but new regulations must first be created, including some by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Commerce Department, according to a Bush administration official. This process could be completed in about six months, estimated the official, after which the president can submit the U.S. ratification documents to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna to bring the protocol into force.  The United States would then be required to submit a declaration within 180 days describing some of its nuclear research and development activities that have not been open before to international inspection. The protocol will allow the agency to visit some civilian nuclear-related sites, such as uranium mines and enrichment equipment manufacturers.  The current safeguards agreements allows the agency more limited access to sites and technology that are not part of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. The United States signed the Additional Protocol in 1998 and the Senate approved the document in 2004, but implementing legislation had not been passed until now. The U.S. version of the Additional Protocol is vastly different from those protocols and safeguards applied to non-nuclear-weapon nations.  In those cases, safeguards are intended to detect the diversion of civil nuclear material to secret weapons programs.  The protocol give the agency authority to look for clandestine nuclear activities at any declared or undeclared site. As a declared nuclear-weapon state, however, the United States is not required to offer the same transparency.  Any sites of “direct national security significance” to Washington are exempt from inspection, according to the original safeguards agreement and the protocol.  Inspections of U.S. sites can only take place with the authorization of the U.S. government. The U.S. version of the protocol is based on a set of principles outlined in a letter from the U.S. representative to the U.N. nuclear agency in 2002.  That letter stated that the United States “will make full and repeated use” of the exemption for sites of national security significance, thus limiting IAEA access to U.S. sites.  “The use of these provisions are a unilateral prerogative of the United States,” Ambassador Kenneth Brill wrote. Brill described one purpose of U.S. implementation of the protocol as providing the U.N. agency with information and access to certain U.S. sites to assist in developing procedures and techniques that would allow it to detect clandestine activities in non-nuclear weapons states. Embedded in the bill signed Monday is the congressional statement that U.S. implementation of the Additional Protocol “may encourage” other nations to ratify the measure, strengthening Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty safeguards and reducing the threat of nuclear proliferation. Legislation allowing U.S. adherence to the protocol had been held up until Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) attached it to the U.S.-Indian deal.  “Basically, he made it into something that the House had to swallow if they wanted the India deal to go through,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. Still, a presidential signature on the bill means little, Kimball said.  “It’s an important symbolic step, but in terms of its effect, it doesn’t provide any added nonproliferation value.” Of the five nuclear weapons states that are party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, only Russia and the United States had not taken the necessary steps for the Additional Protocol to enter into force.  China ratified the measure in 2002, and France and the United Kingdom in 2005. Iran, a country whose nuclear activities have become the focus of intense world attention, singed the Additional Protocol in December 2003 but has not ratified it. Back to top       U.S. Hopes for Quick Progress on India Nuclear Deal The Bush administration hopes to clear away the remaining hurdles to implement the U.S.-Indian nuclear trade within six months, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 13). One major step was taken this week when U.S. President George W. Bush signed a law exempting India from U.S. nuclear nonproliferation rules (see GSN, Dec. 19).  Additional steps are needed before the United States can sell nuclear technology and materials to India, which is not party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. International nuclear trade rules, set by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, prohibit nuclear sales to non-NPT nations that do not allow international inspectors to monitor all their nuclear facilities. The group has historically set its guidelines by consensus, so U.S. officials plan to focus their efforts on group nations now that the domestic legislation is complete (see GSN, Dec. 15). Group members Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden have doubts about easing the group’s rules, said U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns.  He said he hoped they could be persuaded to support Washington. China’s position is also uncertain, Reuters reported (see GSN, Dec. 14). Burns, however, expressed confidence that the U.S. position would prevail. “I do not believe the Chinese will block this,” he said.  “I’ve talked to each one of those countries, and I’m confident that the Nuclear Suppliers Group will act,” Burns said. New Delhi and Washington must also negotiate the deal’s technical parameters, such as specifically what equipment, technology and material U.S. firms could sell to India.  This agreement will also require congressional approval, Reuters reported (Carol Giacomo, Reuters/Malaysia Star, Dec. 19). Back to top       U.S. Considers Adding Military Pressure on Iran as Diplomats Remain at Odds in New York The United States might deploying more U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf to pressure Iran over its nuclear activities and its role in civil violence in Iraq, a U.S. defense official said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 19). One option would be to deploy a second aircraft carrier in the region to join the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which began a tour in late September, the Associated Press reported (Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press I/The Guardian, Dec. 19). U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday urged Washington to avoid using military options against Iran. “I don’t think we are there yet, or we should go in that direction,” he said in his final news conference as head of the United Nations.  “It would be rather unwise and disastrous.” Annan encouraged the Security Council to find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis. “I believe that the council, which is discussing the issue, will proceed cautiously and try and do whatever it can to get a negotiated settlement for the sake of the region and for the sake of the world,” he said (Irwin Arieff, Reuters/The Star, Dec. 19). Negotiations among the five permanent council members and Germany have so far failed this week to agree on a resolution to pressure Iran to freeze its nuclear activities, according to AP. Russia and the United States have squared off over draft resolution sanctions that would ban the international travel of several Iranian officials and freeze the foreign-held assets of some Iranian agencies and firms. “Our partners are trying to turn the situation into their favor by saturating other parts of the draft resolution with wording which would again make restrictions virtually unlimited,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today.  “That would block economic ties with Iran in perfectly legitimate areas.” Washington and Moscow also disagree on a Russian proposal to have any sanctions automatically expire if Iran meets the council’s demands, said another Russian official (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, Dec. 20). Back to top       Iran Urges U.N. Action on Israeli Nuclear Program Iran yesterday called for U.N. Security Council action on Israel’s unacknowledged nuclear weapons program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 13). “Peace and stability cannot be achieved in the Middle East while the massive Israeli nuclear arsenal continues to threaten the region and beyond,” said Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Javad Zarif in identical letters delivered to the council and U.N. secretary general. He called on the Security Council to denounce the Israeli nuclear weapons effort and to press for its elimination.  All Israeli nuclear sites should be brought under international monitoring, Zarif said. The council should meet failure to comply with “resolution action” through Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which allows for sanctions or even use of military force, Zarif said. Zarif said statements by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week — in which he appeared to violate Israel’s policy of nuclear ambiguity — constituted public bragging regarding the country’s nuclear arsenal. The United States and other nations suspect that Iran’s nuclear program is intended to produce weapons.  Tehran says the effort is purely peaceful in nature (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Dec. 19). Back to top

Anthrax Vaccine Contract Axed The U.S. Health and Human Services Department yesterday canceled its $877.5 million contract with California biotechnology firm VaxGen Inc. for delivery of a new anthrax vaccine, the San Jose Mercury News reported (see GSN, Dec. 19). The final straw for the long-delayed project was VaxGen’s inability to meet a deadline this week to begin human safety testing on the vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration had blocked testing due to concerns over the drug’s stability. “VaxGen’s failure to perform is not excusable,” Health and Human Services said in a letter to the company.  “The government is terminating the contract for default.” VaxGen might appeal, said vice president of corporate affairs Lance Ignon. “We certainly knew that this was a strong possibility, but we are obviously very disappointed,” he said.  “VaxGen made an enormous investment in this vaccine.” The company had spent $175 million on the project, but would only receive payment from the federal government upon delivery of the vaccine. “It’s regrettable that HHS chose not to engage with us to explore options” on continuing development of the treatment.  “We asked them repeatedly through as many channels as we could possibly pursue to have an open and productive dialogue with us, and they refused.” Delivery of the contracted 75 million doses of the anthrax vaccine was two years behind schedule as the company struggled with the drug’s potency and stability, the Washington Post reported today (Renae Merle, Washington Post, Dec. 20). The company also claimed the government added new requirements to the contract after it had been finalized (see GSN, Sept. 29). There was no word from Health and Human Services on revised plans for the new anthrax vaccine, the Mercury News reported. “It’s impossible for me to speculate on what our next steps will be,” said agency spokesman Bill Hall.  “We are still fully committed to the development of a next-generation anthrax vaccine.  That remains unchanged.” The federal government has purchased 10 million doses of the existing anthrax vaccine while trying to work through its problems with VaxGen.  Hall could not say if further orders were pending (see GSN, Dec. 15; Steve Johnson, San Jose Mercury News, Dec. 20). The cancellation occurred on the same day that President George W. Bush signed legislation aimed at improving Project Bioshield (see related GSN story, today).  The program is intended to promote private development of countermeasures to WMD materials that could be used in terrorist attacks.  However, the biopharmaceutical industry has argued that the money available is not enough to attract large firms and that funds are not allocated during the drug development phase when they are most needed. The vaccine contract cancellation “is a step back for an anthrax vaccine, but I think we have said this was a flaw in Bioshield,” lead bill sponsor Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told the Post.  “I would like to think if that happened under the new system, we would have caught the problem at a much earlier point.” VaxGen’s future remains in question, the Post reported.  It does not have a contract for its sole remaining product, a smallpox vaccine.  Funding will allow operations to continue through 2007, the company said (Merle, Washington Post). Back to top       Bush Signs Bioterror Law U.S. President George W. Bush signed legislation yesterday to bolster U.S. efforts to develop vaccines and treatments for potential bioterrorist attacks, the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reported (see GSN, Dec. 12). The law calls for the Health and Human Services Department to create the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an agency that would support pharmaceutical industry research into new products to protect against both natural and terrorist pandemics. While the Bush administration has urged the industry to produce countermeasures to terrorist attacks with biological weapons, many firms have replied that lengthy research efforts and questionable demand for vaccines create too much risk for industry to absorb by itself. The new law aims to take on part of that financial risk.  It includes $1.07 billion over two years to fund work in the development phase of new drugs, which is known as the “Valley of Death” “We’re becoming their venture capitalist,” said primary bill sponsor Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.).  “And the advantage is we get look at their data every day if we want to.” Industry groups have supported the Burr legislation. “We are very happy with this bill,” said Chris Colwell of the Biotechnology Industry Group.  “But, this is not the end solution to biodefense” (Barbara Barrett, The News & Observer, Dec. 20). Back to top

Canadian Develops Chemical Agent Sensor A professor at the University of Saskatchewan has received $130,000 from the Canadian National Defense Department to develop an inexpensively manufactured, handheld sensor for chemical weapons agents, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix reported today (see GSN, Oct. 3). The detector would use a minute silicon chip to detect toxic chemicals.  It would carry a number of different probes, to better ensure detection of the various weapons agents that could be used in acts of terrorism. Sensors now in use are expensive to produce and produce results that require expert interpretation, said chemistry professor Bernie Kraatz. “It’s an issue when it comes to protecting the population,” he said.  “(We should) raise awareness that these things are around.  There’s no early warning systems out there.” A sensor produced by Kraatz and fellow researchers is capable of detecting toxic molecules to the parts-per trillion in liquid, the Star Phoenix reported. “We want to be able to detect things at a level far below [a] lethal dose, just to give people some lead time,” he said. Kraatz is working on sensors that use different techniques for detection (Janet French, The Star Phoenix, Dec. 20). Back to top

U.S. Delays Missile Intercept Test The next intercept test of the U.S. Ground-based Missile Defense system has been pushed back to March 2007, Bloomberg News reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 17). The delay of several months is needed to allow time to install software upgrades and better data links in the interceptor warhead and for a March precision radar test. “All of this is why the test is moving to the spring, so we can get as much data as possible for a better assessment on performance,” said Missile Defense Agency spokesman Richard Lehner (Bloomberg News/Arizona Daily Star, Dec. 19).   Back to top

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

© Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.