Scientist Says Security at Biological Labs Lacking

A Rutgers University microbiologist said Friday that security at U.S. laboratories has failed to keep up with biological defense projects being conducted at the facilities, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 21).

Richard Ebright said that regulations governing research into biological agents such as anthrax, tularemia and the plague are lagging behind other industries.

“The easiest way for al-Qaeda to obtain bioweapons agents would be to place someone in a U.S. bioweapons institution,” he said during a biodefense seminar at Princeton University.

“This is something that needs to be prevented,” Ebright added.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Von Roebuck disagreed, arguing that biodefense licensing procedures are effective and cover 300 research institutes.

“The safety measures are in place,” he said. “These programs go through a review. To be registered, a lot of questions are asked, a lot of measures are looked at. ... This is taken very seriously.”

Princeton molecular biologist Lynn Enquist agreed with Ebright’s position, saying that he gave “a fairly accurate assessment” of risks at laboratories.

Laura Kahn, who organized the seminar, said the “macho kind of culture” in biodefense research must be eliminated

“They view accidents with a real laissez-faire attitude,” she said (Associated Press/PhillyBurbs.com, March 11).

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U.S. Speeding Bioterrorism Medication Development

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has increasingly placed countermeasures against bioterrorism and natural pandemics on the fast track for approval, FDA Week reported Friday (see GSN, Jan. 20).

Fast-track status can be given to drugs that fill unmet medical needs or that treat life-threatening and serious diseases, according to FDA Week.

Fears about a biological weapons attack and pandemic flu have changed the way an unmet need is defined, according to Christopher Paul-Milne, assistant director of the Tufts University Center for the Study of Drug Development. For example, although smallpox no longer exists in nature, the government wants to be prepared if the disease is used in a terrorist attack.

Milne said he believes that the fast track approval process is working. A report by Tufts University found that despite often being harder to develop, drugs on the fast track are ready in the same amount of time as less-complicated medications (FDA Week, March 10).

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Tapes Indicate Hussein WMD Plans

Audio recordings of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his aides from before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq indicate that Baghdad planned to revive its WMD programs once international attention focused elsewhere, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 16).

U.S. officials are reviewing the tapes and thousands of pages of Iraqi documents discovered following the fall of the regime.

“The factories are present,” an aide says during a meeting with Hussein in the mid-1990s, during U.N. searches for any remaining Iraqi WMD stockpiles.

“The factories remain, in the mind they remain. Our spirit is with us, based solely on the time period,” the aide says. “And (inspectors) take note of the time period, they can’t account for our will.”

Documents also indicated that Iraqi officials in the mid-1990s hoped to obtain uranium from Africa and looked at burying banned missiles, a U.S. official said.

It is not known, however, whether anything discussed in the recovered tapes and documents actually occurred, the official said.

Tape translator Bill Tierney, a U.N. weapons inspector in the 1990s, said that statements by Hussein’s aide indicate Baghdad was moving to rearm.

“The tapes show that Saddam rebuilt his program and successfully prevented the U.N. from finding out about it,” he said.

U.S.-led inspectors following the March 2003 invasion failed to find WMD stockpiles or evidence that prewar Iraq had ongoing unconventional weapons programs.

Another 500 hours of Hussein audiotapes remain to be translated and studied, while the U.S. Central Command is holding 48,000 boxes of Iraqi documents, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) told the Times. Only 68 pages have been submitted to the committee.

“I don’t want to overstate what is in the documents,” Hoekstra said. “I certainly want to get them out because I think people are going to find them very interesting.”

“Everything [Hussein] is doing [on the tapes] is saying, ‘Let’s take it and hide it’ with clear intent. ‘As soon as this is over, we’re going to be back after this,’” Hoekstra said.

Tierney said he believes Iraq dumped chemical weapons agent into its waterways and moved other weapons into Syria before the war.

The Iraq Survey Group was “lied to in a very systematic way,” he said. “Lying. They were very good at it” (Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, March 13).

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U.S. Report Finds Ongoing Port Security Problems

A U.S. Homeland Security Department report has found a variety of port security problems that could undermine efforts to keep unconventional weapons from being brought into the United States, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 7).

Faulty security by private firms at U.S. and foreign ports, and on ships, trucks and trains “would enable unmanifested materials or weapons of mass destruction to be introduced into the supply chain,” states the $75 million study, which is due to be finished in the fall.

It is possible to open cargo containers during shipping to remove materials or place new items inside without the knowledge of U.S. authorities, according to the report obtained by AP.

“Due to the time involved in transit (and) the fact that most vessel crew members are foreigners with limited credentialing and vetting, the containers are vulnerable to intrusion during the ocean voyage,” the report states.

While special monitors can be used to detect nuclear materials, they are also given to false alarms. New Jersey port officials found that bananas, kitty litter and fire detectors all caused sensor alarms by emitting natural radiation, according to AP.

The report notes the importance of placing radiation monitors at foreign ports. “While there is clearly value in nuclear detection at a U.S. port, that is precisely the concern — it is already on U.S. soil.”

Detecting chemical or biological weapons during shipping would be even more difficult. Tests were “labor intensive, time-consuming and costly to use,” the report states. 

“No silver bullet has emerged to render terrorists incapable of introducing WMD into containers,” it adds.

“There are huge holes in our security system that need to be filled,” said Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.). The report “shows us there are major vulnerabilities over who handles cargo, where it’s been and whether cargo is on a manifest.”

The report also states that:

— Security problems occur at both U.S. and foreign ports. All Pakistani, Turkish and Brazilian port facilities were found to be more secure than a warehouse in Maine. 

“There is a perception that U.S. facilities benefit from superior security protection measures,” the report states. “This mind set may contribute to a misplaced sense of confidence in American business practices.”

— There were no records for “cursory” checks in Guatemala for cargo containers of Starbucks coffee beans heading to the West Coast.

— Brazilian truck drivers took cargo containers home at night and parked them on public streets. U.S. trains, meanwhile, stopped in unsecured rail yards in high-crime areas.

— Security at the Turkish Port of Imzir was “totally inadequate by U.S. standards.”

— Certain unidentified nations refused to cooperate with the study, strengthening the belief that some governments do not believe terrorism is a problem for their country (Ted Bridis, Associated Press/RedOrbit.com, March 12).

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U.S. Offers Philippines Antiterrorism Training

FBI Deputy Director John Pistole on Saturday offered antiterrorism assistance and training to authorities in the Philippines, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 27, 2005).

Pistole and top Philippine police officials discussed Manila’s efforts against Muslim insurgents and terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda.

“He expressed full satisfaction over the gains we have been making in the fight against crime and terrorism and offered the FBI's full assistance, particularly in terms of training and grant of modern crime-fighting tools,” said Philippine national police chief Arturo Lomibao.

National police crime laboratory head Ernesto Belen said Pistole received a “wish list” from police officials of forensic equipment for dealing with WMD incidents as well as DNA analysis and drug testing. He said Pistole did not commit to providing this equipment but promised to give training for document, hair and fiber analysis (Associated Press, March 11).

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Iran Rejects Russian Uranium Enrichment Proposal

Iran yesterday rejected a Russian proposal to enrich uranium for Iranian nuclear power reactors and threatened to leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty after being reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency to the U.N. Security Council, the New York Times reported (see GSN, March 10).

These were the first official comments from Iran since last week’s IAEA board meeting.

“We had told the Russians that we will not give up our research and development program and the proposal is ruled out if this part of our plan is ignored,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, referring to small-scale enrichment activities resumed by Iran last month.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamyinin, was quoted by Russia’s state new agency as saying that Moscow was studying Iran’s response to the proposal, and that “adjustments will be made.” 

“Russia continues to call for a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to Iran's nuclear program,” he said

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday that Iran is also considering exiting the nonproliferation treaty.

“If we reach a point where the existing mechanisms do not provide for the right of the Iranian people, then the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran would be possibly revised and reconsidered,” he said.

Asefi said, though, that leaving the treaty “was not on Iran’s agenda yet.”

Mottaki added that Iran “will not use oil as a foreign policy instrument,” reversing an earlier statement by the interior minister.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed no surprise at Iran’s comments.

“I think the Iranians have said a number of times that they were interested, they were interested, but they really never demonstrated that they were interested in the Russian proposal as the Russians had actually put it forward. So I don't think it's very surprising,” she said.

She rejected suggestions that additional talks take place before the matter is addressed at the United Nations. “I think the discussions are now in New York,” she said, adding that Russia, China, Europe and others have always known that referral of the case to the Security Council meant discussion in New York would begin (Nazila Fathi, New York Times, March 13).

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said another round of talks between Moscow and Tehran would take place this week, the Associated Press reported.

A source told Interfax that the meeting could occur tomorrow and Wednesday in Moscow.

“Iran in the last day or two appealed to us again to hold consultations,” Lavrov said today. “'They will take place in the nearest future.”

The foreign minister added that he was unhappy with Iran’s conduct during negotiations.

“We are very disappointed with the way Iran has been conducting itself in these negotiations, absolutely not helping those who want to provide for finding peaceful ways to resolve the whole situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program,” he said (Associated Press/New York Times, March 13).

Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachyov added that Iran’s actions were not helping its Security Council case, the Washington Post reported.

Interfax quoted Kosachyov as saying that Iran’s rejection of the deal “destroys the last and real possibility of a compromise.”

“By all accounts, Tehran’s decision will seriously radicalize the upcoming debates over the IAEA report in the U.N. Security Council, since trust in Tehran’s plans and ambitions has been strongly undermined,” he said (Karl Vick, Washington Post, March 13).

Russian Ambassador to South Korea Gleb Ivashentsov said today that Moscow’s offer to Iran still stands, Agence France-Presse reported.

“The issue should be settled through diplomatic talks and through negotiations,” he said. “We offered to enrich uranium in Russia. That offer still stands” Agence France-Presse/ChannelNewsAsia.com, March 13).

Iran, meanwhile, said it would not comply with a Security Council resolution demanding that it stop uranium enrichment, Agence France-Presse reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Asefi, when asked if Iran would comply with such a resolution, said, “Never” (Agence France-Presse II/DNAIndia.com, March 12).

The five permanent Security Council members met privately Friday to discuss the issue ahead of a planned public meeting this week, Agence France-Presse reported.

The talks between ambassadors from China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States lasted 90 minutes. Details of the discussions were sketchy.

“It was a good meeting,” said French envoy Jean-Marc de La Sabliere. 

“We talked about our objectives, how the Security Council can reinforce the role of the IAEA,” said Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya.

When asked if a 14-day deadline for stopping nuclear work was discussed as some wire services had reported, Wang said, “No.”

The five nations are working on a statement that contains a firm response to Iran’s actions. A draft written by the United Kingdom and France calls “upon Iran without delay: to re-establish full, sustained and verifiable suspension of all enrichment related and reprocessing (for plutonium) activities.”

The U.N. nuclear watchdog must then “report to the council within 14 days on the implementation by Iran of the actions it has requested,” according to the statement, which contains no language on sanctions (Agence France-Presse III/Yahoo!News, March 11).

The Associated Press reported that the British/French draft calls for Iran to stop construction on its heavy-water reactor as well as all uranium enrichment. 

A second proposal said the Security Council must act “to reinforce the authority of the IAEA” and persuade Iran to live up to its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty obligations.

“It's more about noting with concern and expressing serious concern, calling for transparency, reminding all states, not just Iran, of their obligations. There's no threat of anything and there’s certainly no threat of measures or next steps,” said a diplomat close to the talks.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said that if the council takes no action, Washington might work with allies to impose separate sanctions.

“We are going to press for as vigorous a response in the council as we can get, and hope that that gets the Iranians’ attention,” he said. “This is a test for the council.  And if the Iranians do not back off from their continued aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons, we will have to make a decision of what the next step will be” (Nick Wadhams, Associated Press II/Yahoo!News, March 11).

European Union officials, while still open to a diplomatic answer, said sanctions were possible, the Associated Press reported.

“The Security Council is not the end of the diplomatic route,” said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. 

“It is clear that we can still reach a diplomatic solution ... we don't want to isolate Iran, and Iran should also not isolate Iran,” she said Friday.

European Union Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana said that “everything is on the table, everything is open.”

“We are only at the beginning. I don't exclude sanctions but it depends on the type of sanctions. We certainly don't want to target the Iranian people,” he said (Veronika Oleksyn, Associated Press III, March 11).

U.S. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.) said that Iran could be stopped with diplomacy, Reuters reported.

“I think we can stop them from having a nuclear weapon short of war,” he said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” 

Senator George Allen (R-Va.) added, “Ultimately, you never want to take military action off the table. But you never want it to get that far.  But if necessary, it is an option. But it is not one that is desirable.”

Both said that the United States must not work unilaterally and that President George W. Bush should seek the approval of Congress for military action against Iran.

“He has to do that,” Biden said.

“I believe he should, and I believe he would if necessary,” Allen added (Reuters/New York Times, March 13).

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw is expected to say in a speech today that the Security Council must consider additional talks with Tehran, Agence France-Presse reported.

Council action needs to be “incremental and reversible,” he is expected to say.

International consensus is also needed and should “leave the door open for negotiations with Iran at any stage.”

“Security Council involvement does not mean an end to our efforts to find a negotiated solution. It marks a new phase in diplomatic efforts,” Straw is expected to say (Agence France-Presse IV, March 13).

Former U.N. and U.S. weapons inspector David Kay said there might be no stopping Iran’s nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported.

“I'm afraid that we probably are past the point where there is any meaningful alternative other than military action to stop the Iranians if they are determined to go ahead. And I don't see that as a possibility,” Kay said yesterday on NBC’s “Today Show.”

“My great fear is indeed we will have to learn to live with Iran, and all its terrorist connections, with the bomb,” he added, but declined to say if Tehran was working toward nuclear weapons (Agence France-Presse V/NCR-Iran.org, March 12).

Elsewhere, a mineral exploitation deal between Venezuela and Iran is prompting fears that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez could provide Tehran with uranium, the Washington Times reported.

The mineral deal could include shipments of uranium to Iran, according to Venezuelan opposition members and press reports.

“Now they say I am sending uranium to make atomic bombs from here, from the Venezuelan Amazon to send directly to the Persian Gulf. This shows they have no limit in their capacity to invent lies,” Chavez said last week (Kelly Hearn, Washington Times, March 13).

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India Illicitly Acquired Nuke Technology, Group Says

India illicitly obtained nuclear material from Europe, and its acquisition methods could promote proliferation of nuclear technology, the Institute for Science and International Security said in a report issued Friday (see GSN, March 10).

The Washington think tank said it “has uncovered a well-developed, active, and secret Indian program to outfit its uranium enrichment program and circumvent other countries’ export control efforts.”

The purchases came “certainly from the supplier states from Europe and [possibly] from other places too,” said report co-author David Albright, ISIS president.

In promoting the planned nuclear technology sharing agreement, U.S. and Indian officials have argued that New Delhi has a strong nonproliferation record and has not illegally obtained nuclear technology, Agence France-Presse reported.

Albright said, however, that “Indian procurement methods for its nuclear program leak sensitive nuclear technology.”

In one case of procurement, Indian Rare Earths Ltd. obtained sensitive technology and materials to be used in a secret gas centrifuge enrichment plant. Enriched uranium from the plant might be used for nuclear weapons, according to the ISIS report.

Technology and materials suppliers were not told that their goods were heading to “an unsafeguarded uranium enrichment plant,” the report states.

That allows “a supplier to easily avoid knowing the true end use of an item and thus the supplier escapes responsibility for providing a dual-use item to a gas centrifuge plant,” according to the report.

Indian nuclear acquisition and export methods should be studied closely before the United States or other nations approve nuclear deals with New Delhi, the report states.

“The Indian government should commit to stop conducting illicit procurement for its nuclear facilities, implement steps to better control its nuclear information, and improve its implementation of national and international export controls,” the report says (Agence France-Presse/Bernama.com, March 10).

The White House is circulating a draft law that would exempt India from U.S. Atomic Energy Act rules against delivering nuclear technology to nations that remain outside the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act, the Indo-Asian News Service reported Saturday.

A Bush administration official would not say when lawmakers might begin considering the proposal. U.S. Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.), an opponent of the planned deal, said the exemption bill would give “a blank check to the Bush administration to exempt India from our nation’s nuclear nonproliferation laws.”

“It appears that the administration wants to avoid a vote on the actual text of the nuclear cooperation agreement they will be negotiating with the Indian government,” Markey said in a statement (Indo-Asian News Service I, March 11).

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today called on lawmakers to approve the U.S.-India deal, AFP reported.

“This agreement is a strategic achievement,” she wrote in a commentary in the Washington Post. “It will strengthen international security. It will enhance energy security and environmental protection. It will foster economic and technological development” (Agence France-Presse, March 13).

A group of experts and former diplomats issued a letter of support for amending U.S. laws to allow for the proposed deal, the Indo-Asian News Service reported Saturday.

“Congress should support the agreement to promote U.S. strategic interests, U.S. nonproliferation goals, U.S. energy security and global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions leading to global warming,” states the letter, which was signed by 23 people, including Selig Harrison of the Center for International Policy, former Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth and former U.S. ambassadors to India William Clarke and Frank Wisner (Indo-Asian News Service II, March 11).

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday that he hopes his nation’s agreement with the United States would leak to similar pacts with other nuclear countries, the Associated Press reported.

“Our understanding will open the doors for the cooperation and development of the civilian nuclear sector, not only with the United States but also with other key international partners like Russia, the United Kingdom and France,” he said (Ashok Sharma, Associated Press, March 11).

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North Korea Says Nuclear Weapons Efforts to Increase in Response to Threat of U.S. Strike

North Korea said today that it would increase its efforts to produce nuclear weapons to counter a potential U.S. nuclear attack, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 10).

“The U.S. feverish development of smaller nukes of new types and modernization of nuclear weapons production bases targeted against the D.P.R.K. convinces the latter once again that its possession and increase of nuclear deterrent is an entirely just self-defensive measure,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary.

According to the article, Pyongyang, “a target of the U.S. pre-emptive nuclear attack, cannot but keep the sharpest vigilance against its spurred preparations to put its doctrine of this attack into practice” (Agence France-Presse/Forbes.com, March 13).

Meanwhile, the Yonhap News Agency reported that the United States on Friday refused bilateral negotiations with North Korea on alleged illegal financial activities (see GSN, March 9).

“U.S. regulatory action and law enforcement measures to protect our financial institutions from abuse are not subject to negotiation,” the State Department said in a statement. “The U.S. will continue to regulate its financial system as it deems appropriate in accordance with U.S. law.”

"However, we would note that the joint statement of principles, agreed in the fourth round of six-party talks last September, contemplates in the context of denuclearization, discussion of a broad range of issues, including trade and investment cooperation and steps towards normalization,” the statement said (Yonhap News Agency, March 11).

Elsewhere, Chinese and South Korean officials discussed how to overcome the stalemate in the six-party nuclear talk, the Associated Press reported Saturday.

“A quick resumption of talks is important but what is more important is to make substantial progress when the talks are resumed,” said lead South Korean nuclear Chun Young-woo, following discussions with Chinese nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei.

The North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun in a commentary called for the United States to permit inspections of U.S. nuclear weapons allegedly deployed in South Korea. It also said the United States should remove its weapons and troops from the South as a way to solve the nuclear crisis (Associated Press, March 11). 

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U.K. Secretly Works on New Nuclear Warhead

The United Kingdom has been secretly operating a program to develop a new nuclear warhead, the London Sunday Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 2, 2005).

The effort is akin to the U.S. Reliable Replacement Warhead program, and aims to produce a warhead that could be tested without an actual nuclear detonation.

“We’ve got to build something that we can never test and be absolutely confident that, when we use it, it will work,” a senior British official said.

The British program is a cooperative effort with the United States, but has advanced more quickly than the similar U.S. warhead development effort, the Times reported.

News of the warhead research comes amidst ongoing debate over whether the United Kingdom should replace its existing submarine-launched Trident nuclear missiles.

“The Trident missiles will last for another 20 years,” said Labor Party lawmaker Paul Flynn. “Who on earth are we going to take them on with anyway? Replacing them wrecks any standing we have when we preach nonproliferation to countries like Iran.”

A report issued this month by the British Foreign Policy Center calls for the Trident to be eliminated without development of a replacement. It questions the United Kingdom’s status as an independent nuclear power, noting that Trident missiles are kept in the United States and picked up by British submarines for patrol.

“The U.K. should cease to try to keep up appearances and adopt a policy based on the reality that it is not an independent nuclear power,” the report states.

“Trident should not be replaced and should be phased out now,” it adds.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to make a decision on the Trident before he leaves office.

“It is a huge decision for the country and it will probably be done in a far more open way than the decisions have been taken before,” he said in February (Michael Smith, Sunday Times, March 12).

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Vietnam Ratifies Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Vietnam on Friday ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the CTBT Organization in Vienna announced (see GSN, Feb. 9).

Vietnam is the 132nd nation to ratify the pact and the 34th of the 44 countries that must ratify the treaty for it to take effect (CTBTO release, March 13).

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