U.S. Still Favors Arms Control Forum, Official Says

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration continues to support conducting arms control and disarmament negotiations through the international Conference on Disarmament formed during the Cold War, in particular a fissile material cutoff treaty, a senior State Department official said yesterday (see GSN, May 18).

The forum was used in previous decades to negotiate the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the chemical and biological weapons conventions, and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, among other agreements. The Bush administration has not pursued new multilateral arms control treaties, but did urge the conference in May to draft a pact for halting global fissile material production for nuclear weapons.

“The administration believes that the Conference on Disarmament retains its potential as one of the world community’s primary instruments for promoting a safer and more secure environment,” said Christina Rocca, a State Department senior adviser and until earlier this year the assistant secretary of state for South Asia.

Rocca was speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination as the next U.S. representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. The only committee member in attendance was its chairman, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).

Rocca criticized the forum for its inability to negotiate anything, or even formulate a work plan, over the past 10 years, including a fissile material ban. Some conference members, including close U.S. allies, have insisted that the forum also negotiate nuclear force reductions and a ban on space-based weapons.

“This impasse is the result of efforts in Geneva to link issues that cannot command consensus support to an issue that can: namely FMCT [a fissile material cutoff treaty]. The insistence of many members on pursuing an outmoded and unrealistic Cold War agenda also has contributed to the deadlock,” she said.

Israel also reportedly objected in May to the U.S. proposal for a fissile material cutoff treaty at the forum, indicating concern about how the proposal might affect its policy of nuclear ambiguity (see GSN, May 19).

Rocca said the continued deadlock over the Conference on Disarmament’s agenda “raises questions as to its continued effectiveness” and that negotiations this year are “critical to the continued existence of the CD as a meaningful international negotiating forum.”

Lugar, during a question and answer period, noted that the U.S.-proposed draft fissile material cutoff treaty has been criticized as insufficient, as it lacks a proposed inspections mechanism for verifying treaty compliance. “Some critics of the treaty that we have submitted have suggested it is actually an effort to torpedo negotiations on a fissile material cutoff treaty,” he said.

“That’s absolutely not the case,” Rocca said, adding that the administration determined after a 2004 policy review that compliance with the treaty could not be verified through inspections.

Lugar asked Rocca whether there were other treaties the administration would like to negotiate at the conference. Rocca cited an administration proposal to ban the sale or export of antipersonnel landmines that lack self-neutralizing mechanisms that leave them harmless after a set period.

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Russian Official Wants to “Black List” WMD Companies

A Russian federal official proposed last week that the European Union create a “black list” companies suspected of using or reselling dual-purpose products that could be used to produce weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Feb. 17, 2005).

The idea came from Sergei Mikhailov, an adviser to the export control department of the Federal Service of Technological and Export Control, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported (Rossiyskaya Gazeta, July 13).

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South Korea, U.S. Agree to Resume North Korea Nuclear Negotiations Without Pyongyang

South Korea and the United States yesterday agreed to call for multilateral talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program even if Pyongyang refuses to join, the Yonhap News Agency reported today (see GSN, July 17).

“In order to prevent a situation in which the talks do not reopen for a long period of time and to maintain the momentum of the six-party process, we agreed to pursue a five-party meeting,” the South Korean Embassy in Washington announced after a meeting of the countries’ top nuclear negotiators, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and Seoul’s envoy, Chun Young-woo.

The five nations include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

“What we are trying to achieve is six-party talks,” Chun said. “But if six-party talks cannot be held, I think it’s better to hold the five-party talks rather than not having any talks at all.”

“Six is better than five, but five is better than none,” Hill said. 

China, which hosted the previous talks, has indicated recently that it might be open to meetings that do not include North Korea, a South Korean diplomat told Yonhap.

Chun said the other five countries could “discuss a range of issues, for example, establishing a number of working-level groups that will meet regularly and make progress” (Yonhap News Agency, July 18).

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the nuclear standoff with Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported.

Putin urged North Korea to resume disarmament talks in short order, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse, July 17).

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India Deal Hoped to Pass Congress This Year

A Bush administration official said yesterday that a pending U.S. civilian nuclear technology sharing deal with India could be approved by the end of the year, The Times of India reported (see GSN, July 17).

“The agreement is on track … the legislation is moving quickly. Our Congress has been very supportive,” said Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher.

Boucher said the House of Representatives was expected to consider its version of the legislation next week, followed shortly after by the Senate.

“Once each passes legislation … they’ll have to go through a conference which would happen after their August recess,” he said. “So perhaps in September they could put through the final legislation.”

Boucher added that Washington was in talks with the Nuclear Suppliers Group about backing the agreement, while New Delhi was discussing a safeguards plan with the International Atomic Energy Agency required for the deal to go through.

“If all those pieces come together … it’s conceivable that all this could be done by the end of the year,” he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush, meanwhile, said he was unaware of any similar deal being offered to Pakistan, the Times reported.

“I think it’s safe to say that I have not seen any proposal by any government to make a similar sale to another country along the lines of the one with India,” Bush said, responding to a question regarding a potential Chinese-Pakistani nuclear deal.

“We certainly believe that the situation with India is unique. That’s the way we’ve approached this agreement, that’s the way we’ve pursued it, and I think that remains the view of many other members of the international community,” he said (The Times of India, July 18).

Elsewhere, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed concerns over parts of the legislation pending in Congress, The Hindu reported today.

New Delhi has objected to prohibitions on supply of reprocessing and enrichment technologies, as well as various safeguards and end-use verification requirements, according to the Hindu (N. Ram, The Hindu, July 18).

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Bush, Putin Urge Iran to Respond to Incentives

U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday encouraged Iran to quickly provide a response to nuclear incentives from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany, Reuters reported (see GSN, July 17).

“We are especially concerned by the failure of the Iranian government to engage seriously on the proposals,” Bush and Putin said in a statement (Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 17).

Putin, however, added that any discussion of sanctions against Tehran was premature, Agence France-Presse reported.

“We would like Iran to respond as quickly as possible to the offer from the six and for negotiations to get started on the basis of this proposal,” he said.

“Talk of sanctions would create unfavorable conditions for negotiations,” Putin added (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, July 17).

Continued clashes in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah have led the U.N. Security Council to postpone debate on a resolution addressing Iran’s nuclear program, AFP reported yesterday.

“I would have expected that as of this morning, we would have been working on the Iran resolution, but Iran’s proxies in the Middle East, Hamas and Hezbollah, obviously have other work in mind,” said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton (Agence France-Presse II/Khaleej Times, July 17).

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Pakistan Plans to Get U.S. F-16s Next Year

The Pakistani air force said yesterday that it hoped to begin receiving U.S. F-16 fighter jets beginning late next year, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 17).

Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood said Islamabad has requested 18 new aircraft and 26 used jets.

“We hope to receive the 26 used aircraft in 15-18 months’ time,” he said. The new jets are not expected to arrive until 2009, he added.

The used jets were once meant to be shipped as new aircraft to Pakistan, but the delivery was barred in 1990 due to Islamabad’s nuclear weapons program, AFP reported.

The U.S. Congress is expected to approve the deal later this month, though some lawmakers have expressed concern that Islamabad could transfer the technology to China.

Mahmood dismissed accusations of Pakistan’s tendency to transfer weapons technology to third parties as being based on “fabricated information.”

“We adhere to the conditions we sign,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Khaleej Times, July 17).

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Andorra, Armenia Ratify CTBT

Armenia and Andorra last week ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Vienna-based CTBT Organization announced (see GSN, March 13).

The two countries bring the total number of countries to ratify the pact to 134. 

For the treaty to take effect, it must be signed and ratified by the 44 Annex 2 states — nations that participated in the 1996 session of the Conference of Disarmament and had nuclear power or research reactors at the time. Thirty-four Annex 2 states have ratified the treaty (CTBTO release I and release II, July 17).

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U.S. to Test Unarmed ICBM

A test launch of an unarmed U.S. Minuteman 3 ICBM is scheduled for tomorrow, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 15).

The Air Force intends the flight as a test of the missile’s dependability. The Minuteman will be fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with its three warheads expected to land in water between 1:01 a.m. and 7:01 a.m. 4,200 miles away off the Marshall Islands (Associated Press/Daily Comet, July 18).

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U.S. Takes Bids for Livermore Management Contract

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration on Friday released the final request for proposals for a contractor to take over management of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California (see GSN, March 17).

The agency issued a draft request in May. It then took comments from prospective bidders, current and retired laboratory personnel, government staffers and the public. Potential management entities were also invited to meetings in May and June, according to an NNSA release. Comments led to changes in the request. 

Criteria in the revised request includes: “the potential contractor’s management approach to conducting world-class science and technology; achieving excellence in laboratory operations and business operations; the organizational structure for managing the laboratory and the naming of key personnel; including the proposed laboratory director; and past performance.”

The new laboratory manager is expected by be selected by spring 2008. The University of California’s management contract ends on Sept. 30 of that year (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release, July 14).

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Italy Offers Assistance to OPCW

Italy has agreed to provide medical and logistical support to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the event of an attack involving such weapons, according to a press release issued yesterday (see GSN, July 11).

An Italian doctor and a team of decontamination experts are ready to leave within 24 hours to any Chemical Weapons Convention member state that requests assistance following a chemical attack or threat, said Mario Brando Pensa, Italy’s permanent representative to the organization. An Italian navy vessel, carrying one helicopter and one heavy tank track, is also available to provide support, the OPCW release states.

The assistance also includes training in chemical detection, disaster management and firefighting. Preparedness training for a potential terrorism threat or other incident involving chemical weapons is vital, as an effective first-response effort could save lives, the release states (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, July 17).

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Japan Plans for Additional North Korea Sanctions

Japan announced today that it planned to impose new financial sanctions against North Korea in the wake of Pyongyang’s missile tests earlier this month, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 17).

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Tokyo might further limit asset transfers from Japan to North Korea.

Measures reportedly being considered include freezing Pyongyang’s Japan-based assets, as well as barring cash remittances to North Korea from Korean nationals residing in Japan, according to AFP.

Japanese residents last year passed $25 million in money and merchandise to people in North Korea.

“We have ordered ministries and agencies concerned to start work so that we can take necessary measures related to regulating transfer of financial assets at an appropriate time,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe.

“We will continue the (existing) strict measures related to export control over North Korea’s missile programs and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons,” he said.

Any unilateral move by Tokyo is unlikely to have much effect on North Korea’s economy, since most of its trade is with China and South Korea, AFP reported.

“Economic sanctions are not effective if only done by one country,” said Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura. “If we were to do it, it is most effective when executed through international cooperation” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 18).

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