U.S. to Re-Establish Full Diplomatic Ties With Libya

The United States yesterday rewarded Libya’s decision to end WMD development by announcing it would resume full diplomatic ties with the regime of Muammar Qadhafi, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 24).

Libya is also to be removed from the U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring nations.

“Today’s announcements are tangible results that flow from the historic decisions taken by Libya’s leadership” to renounce terrorism and weapons of mass destruction,” said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“The United States hopes that states with even more threatening WMD and missile programs will see Libya’s experience as a model to emulate,” the State Department said in a fact sheet.

The fact sheet detailed Tripoli’s moves to end its WMD efforts since 2003. They include:  turning over to the United States nuclear weapons design documents supplied by the black market network of former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan; returning more than 15 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to Russia; joining the Chemical Weapons Convention and preparing to eliminate its chemical arsenal; and initiating destruction of all Scud B and Scud C ballistic missiles (U.S. State Department fact sheet, May 15).

Libya’s WMD disarmament efforts have been conducted with “tremendous transparency and with great rapidity,” Paula DeSutter, assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance and implementation, said in a release.

Weapons designs and additional “items of great interest” delivered by the Khan network to Libya could offer important information on the operations of other such organizations, the release states (U.S. State Department release, May 15).

Libya has also supported the U.S. hunt for members of al-Qaeda and other terror groups in North Africa and the Middle East, the State Department said.

The United States has not had an ambassador in Libya since 1971, and the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli closed in 1979 following a mob attack, AP reported.

Following a 15-day waiting period and talks with lawmakers, the U.S. diplomatic office in Tripoli would be upgraded to a full embassy. Libya’s removal from the terrorism sponsors list is expected following a 45-day waiting period.

The resumption of full diplomatic relations between the two countries had been expected late last year, but was delayed by final checks of Libyan compliance, officials said (Anne Gearan, Associated Press/The Journal Gazette, May 16).

The U.S. decision opens a “new page” between the two countries, according to Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shagham. Another Libyan official said that Tripoli had offered “no concessions” to gain the improved relationship, Agence France-Presse reported (Afef Geblawi, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 16).

While the announcement appeared aimed at Iran and North Korea and their suspected nuclear weapons programs, some experts questioned whether it would have the intended effect.

“Some say it is supposed to send a message to the Iranians,” Edward Walker, president of the Middle East Institute, told the Washington Post. “As far as I can see, the message is that it worked because they had direct talks with the Libyans.”

The Bush administration has rejected calls to conduct bilateral negotiations with Iran regarding its nuclear program. A senior U.S. official argued that Tripoli had to meet certain conditions, including turning over two intelligence officials for trial in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, before the United States considered direct meetings (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, May 16).

North Korea and Iran also have nuclear programs that are significantly more advanced than Libya’s was at the time of its cancellation, AFP reported.

“In both countries, the United States is pursuing an active regime change policy, much more seriously than was the case in Libya … so both of them want nuclear weapons to deter the United States,” said Selig Harrison, a nuclear expert at the Center for International Policy.

“In effect, the United States is the problem. North Korea and Iran, to a certain degree, are responding to our dominance,” said former U.S. arms control negotiator Jack Mendelsohn.

“As long as the United States believes and declares that nuclear weapons are indispensable weapons of security and defense and as long as the United States says it will use these weapons when and if and as it sees necessary, it makes it much more difficult to convince other nations not to be interested in acquiring nuclear weapons,” he said (P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 15).

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Canada, U.S. Stage Terrorism Drill

U.S. and Canadian defense agencies last week began a drill involving a blitz of attacks by terrorists using unconventional weapons, USA Today reported (see GSN, May 1).

“Ardent Sentry” began May 8 and is expected to be completed on Thursday. More than 5,000 U.S. and Canadian military and civilian personnel are involved in the exercise, which is designed to test the response capabilities of the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Scenarios include the detonation of a radiological “dirty bomb” that kills more than 5,000 people in Windsor, Ontario; the explosion of train cars carrying chlorine and phosgene gas in nearby Detroit; and the release of plague bacteria in Mexico City, resulting in a flood of refugees into the United States, according to USA Today.

Threat details arrive by e-mail, telephone and other communications. The messages are designated “EXERCISE” so as not to be mistaken for a real threat.

U.S. Navy Adm. Timothy Keating, NorthCom and NORAD commander, said that while the drill is tough on the system, “the cord hasn’t snapped. That will matter as we come into hurricane season.”

“Organizations that will go unnamed have said to me: ‘Your exercises are unrealistic.  All those events would never happen at the same time,’” said Gene Pino, a retired Marine colonel who runs the exercise. “But there are two ways to train people: provide them an environment they succeed in, or an environment that pushes them to the breaking point” (Patrick O’Driscoll, USA Today, May 16).

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U.S. to Review Restrictions on Foreign Researchers

The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to create a 12-member advisory panel to make recommendations by next year on revisions to rules regarding foreign researchers who use sensitive equipment while working in the United States, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 8, 2005).

The rules govern access by foreign researchers to toxins, lasers, biological testing equipment and precision tools. Use of such technology by a foreign national in the United States generally requires an export license, according to AP.

No decision on rules changes is expected for at least a year.

The panel would “collect data, seek advice and input from people in government agencies, look at the policy and come back to us with a set of recommendations on how we should be focusing on this issue in the future,” said David McCormick, commerce undersecretary for industry and security.

Creation of the committee was a response to a 2004 Commerce Department inspector general’s report warning of potential diversion of sensitive weapons technology (Ted Bridis, Associated Press/USA Today, May 15).

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EU Offers Iran Civilian Nuclear Technology

A European Union offer announced yesterday would provide Iran with advanced civilian nuclear technology in exchange for Tehran agreeing to halt its sensitive nuclear work, Knight Ridder reported (see GSN, May 15).

Washington has expressed support for such an initiative, according to Knight Ridder, but Iran has shown no indication that it would retreat from its insistence on enriching uranium.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Tehran would have access to the most advanced civilian nuclear technology under the plan.

“If they want to construct a nuclear energy power plant, they would have, in cooperation with the European Union and other members of the international community, the best and most sophisticated technology,” he said. “If they reject that, it would mean that what they want is something different” (Landay/Schofield, Knight Ridder/Philadelphia Inquirer, May 16).

Along with offering a “proliferation-proof” nuclear energy program, the European Union would boost economic and political ties to Iran if it accepts intrusive international monitoring of its atomic activities, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose nation holds the rotating EU presidency, said yesterday.

“We are prepared to work on a cooperation package and support Iran’s development of a proliferation-proof civilian nuclear program,” Plassnik said following a meeting of EU foreign ministers, according to the Associated Press.

“We remain committed to finding a diplomatic solution. ... The intention is not to push Iran into further isolation but to find a way to bring Iran back to a negotiating track,” she said. “But we will also look at measures to be taken should Iran continue to reject this course.”

The European Union announced yesterday that it continues to support a binding U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Iran halt enrichment activities and suspend construction of a heavy water research reactor, according to AP. EU officials said a final version of that text could be completed ahead of an upcoming meeting in London of officials from the five permanent council nations (Slobodan Lekic, Associated Press/Ha’aretz Daily, May 16).

A senior Chinese official said yesterday that Iran should halt all sensitive nuclear work, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Iran should listen to the call of all of the international community,” said Tang Jiaxuan, a member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. “Iran should exercise a moratorium on uranium enrichment activities and all related activities, including research and development.”

Tang also suggested that Washington open bilateral talks with Tehran.

“Ultimately, China is appealing strongly for international cooperation to cool down the situation,” said Dong Manyuan, a research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies. “They think a call for direct talks [between Washington and Tehran] would be conducive to greater stability” (Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times, May 16).

Meanwhile, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said today that the 114-nation Nonaligned Movement plans to announce a position on the standoff at the end of the month, Agence France-Presse reported.

The issue is expected to be “extensively discussed” when foreign ministers from the developing nations gather in Kuala Lumpur beginning May 27, he said.

“We hope the crisis Iran is facing will not reach a situation where there will be military conflict because the world does not need another such conflict,” Syed Hamid said (Agence France-Presse/IranMania.com, May 16).

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Russia Begins Dismantling Ballistic Missile Sub

Russia has begun dismantling a Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine, Interfax reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 18, 2005).

“The support systems of the submarine were reinitiated to secure the removal of spent nuclear fuel. The corresponding dismantling operations were then conducted,” said Aleksandr Kobko of the repair and disposal department at the Sevmashpredpriyatiye shipyard at Severodvinsk.

Spent fuel is now being removed from the vessel while it is berthed at the Zvezdochka shipyard.

“The operation should end in June. After that, equipment will be removed from the submarine and its hull will be dismantled,” Kobko said. “In compliance with safety requirements, the section with reactor units will be sealed off, launched and transported to the storage facility at Sayda Bay on the Kola Peninsula.”

The TK-12 served in the Northern Fleet from 1985 to 1998. It is the second Typhoon-class submarine to be designated for elimination. The TK-202 was dismantled last year, Interfax reported.

This project is being funded with support from the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction program (Interfax, May 15).

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Annan, Roh Call for Return to North Korea Nuke Talks

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and visiting U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan today urged nations involved in the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to resume their negotiations, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, May 15).

“Secretary General Annan said he supports the six-way talks aimed at resolving North Korea’s nuclear issue and expects the talks to resume as early as possible,” according to a statement from Roh’s office.

“President Roh expressed hope that the six-way talks should proceed well,” said presidential spokesman Jung Tae-ho (Jun Kwanwoo, Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, May 16).

A delegation from Seoul headed yesterday to Pyongyang in preparation for a meeting between former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, The Washington Times reported.

Kim Dae-jung has said he would use the June meeting to try to organize a summit later this year. Roh last week said he would meet with Kim Jong Il “any time, anywhere, to talk about anything.”

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok announced Sunday that Roh is “more determined than ever to hold an inter-Korean summit.”

Roh adviser Moon Chung-in said the efforts are meant to persuade Pyongyang to resume nuclear talks (Andrew Salmon, The Washington Times, May 16).

Meanwhile, former Japanese foreign affairs official Hitoshi Tanaka said yesterday he expects little progress in the short term on ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, given U.S. preoccupation with Middle East issues, AFP reported.

“Domestic politics in the United States is a huge problem in solving the North Korean issue, as there is a battle between a group that opposes any kind of negotiations with a rogue country such as North Korea and the other group that thinks a war against North Korea is unrealistic,” said Tanaka, who led Japanese diplomatic efforts toward North Korea for nearly two decades.

“And the United States doesn’t have the energy to commit itself to the North Korean issue as its first priority is Iraq, Iran and the Middle East,” he added.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top U.S. envoy to the stalled six-nation talks, “has not been successful in integrating domestic opinion,” Tanaka said (Agence France-Presse II, May 15).

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Chemical Weapons Disposal Resumes at Pine Bluff

The Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Arkansas on Sunday resumed weapons processing following an extended shutdown for maintenance, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 10).

Work stopped in January to allow for replacement of furnace pipes in the site’s pollution abatement system.

Prior to that, the facility had eliminated more than 34,000 rockets and more than 350,000 pounds of sarin nerve agent, roughly 5 percent of the chemical stockpile at the Pine Bluff Arsenal.

Disposal began in March 2005 of 3,850 tons of chemical agent contained in rockets, land mines and bulk containers, AP reported. The original amount was about 12 percent of the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons (Associated Press, May 15).

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Bangladesh Passes Chemical Weapons Ban

Bangladesh yesterday approved a law implementing the rules of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Press Trust of India reported (see GSN, Dec. 9, 2004).

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia decided in favor of the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act, 2006 (Press Trust of India/Hindustan Times, May 16).

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Fire Reported Again at Umatilla CW Disposal Site

Flames again ignited Friday during disposal of a M55 rocket at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Oregon, the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency reported (see GSN, May 5).

The fire occurred at about 9:30 a.m. in Explosive Containment Room A as the rocket was undergoing the fifth of seven cuts by a shear machine. Previous fires have occurred at that same point during destruction of rockets that had been drained of sarin nerve agent. A previous investigation indicated that the fires occur when the cutting blade hits particles of rocket fuel.

No chemical agent escaped the room, and there were no injuries, according to a CMA press release.

The room was closed for assessment following the fire. The facility’s Explosive Containment Room B was available for processing, the press release states.

Umatilla as of Friday had eliminated more than 68,600 M55 rockets since the start of disposal in September 2004 (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, May 12).

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India Says Missile Test Delay Due to Restraint

India yesterday denied that Western pressure played any role in its decision to delay the test-launch of its longest-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, May 15).

“We have no pressure on us. Nor are we putting any political pressure,” said Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee. “It is just we have decided to have self-imposed restraint because as responsible members of the international community, we want to keep our international commitments on nonproliferation.”

He added, however, that India would conduct other tests on the Agni 3 missile in the meantime.

“We are all ready to go and in two-three weeks we can assemble it and launch. In fact, we have a schedule for three tests including one with the end user,” a missile scientist told AFP (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 15).

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