Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani (right) meets today in Tehran with envoys from the six nations backing a proposal to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis (Getty Images). Iran Formally Rejects Demand to Suspend Enrichment Program Iran formally delivered its much-anticipated reply today to a six-nation proposal to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, rejecting a demand to suspend its uranium enrichment activities before resuming any negotiations, Tehran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported (see GSN, Aug. 21)...Full Story

Chemical Attack Victim Testifies at Hussein Trial An Iraqi Kurd testified today in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein that the regime used chemical bombs dropped from the sky in 1987 to devastate his village, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 12)...Full Story

IAEA Reports Nuclear Trafficking Incidents The International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday said it had confirmed more than 100 incidents last year of illicit trafficking of nuclear or radioactive materials (see GSN, Sept. 28, 2005)...Full Story

	Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Charges Filed Against 11 U.K. Airline Bomb Suspects Authorities in the United Kingdom yesterday filed charges against 11 people suspected of plotting to detonate liquid explosives in passenger airplanes as they flew to the United States, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Aug. 16). All 11 suspects are scheduled to be arraigned today.  A judge has already ordered four to remain in custody, the Times reported. Charges of conspiracy to murder and “preparing acts of terrorism” were filed against eight suspects.  They are accused of plotting “to smuggle the component parts of improvised explosive devices onto aircraft and assemble and detonate them on board.” British authorities filed lesser charges against the three other suspects.  A 17-year-old is charged with possessing “a book on improvised explosive devices, some suicide notes and wills with the identities of persons prepared to commit acts of terrorism and a map of Afghanistan containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.” A man and woman are charged with failure to disclose information that could prevent an act of terrorism. In total, 23 people are being held in connection with the case.  A female suspect who has not been charged is to be released, while the other 11 could be held for up to 28 days without charges. More suspects could face conspiracy charges, a police official said. In extensive searches, police have found hydrogen peroxide, electrical equipment and other materials that could be use to make bombs, said Peter Clarke, head of the London antiterrorism police. They also recovered 400 computers, 200 cell phones, and 8,000 data storage devices, including DVDs and memory sticks, according to the Times. “We have also found a number of video recordings — these are sometimes referred to as martyrdom videos.  This has all given us a clearer picture of the alleged plot,” Clarke said. Trial in the case is expected to occur no sooner than two years from now. “The meticulous investigation of all this material will take many months,” Clarke said.  “All the data will be analyzed.  There will be thousands of forensic examinations and comparisons.  Fingerprints, DNA, electronic data, handwriting comparisons, chemical analysis, and indeed the full range of forensic disciplines will be used” (Alan Cowell, New York Times, Aug. 22). Back to top       U.S. WMD Focus Detracts From Detecting Explosives The Bush administration’s efforts to prevent terrorists from acquiring or using weapons of mass destruction has undermined U.S. work to address more conventional threats, including those to air traffic, the Washington Post reported Sunday (see GSN, Aug. 4). The Homeland Security Department “has focused largely on weapons of mass destruction and countermeasures.  As far as I know, they haven’t devoted much attention to airport screening technologies that might detect the kind of explosives that the alleged terrorists in the U.K. were planning to use — a weakness that was very nearly exploited,” said Albert Teich, science and policy programs director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (see related GSN story, today). Other experts agreed and urged the administration to treat conventional threats with greater urgency. “The likelihood of a low-technology threat, like you’ve seen with these trans-Atlantic flights, has been assessed by many people to be very likely, as compared with the WMD threats, like a smuggled nuclear weapon into a port,” said Jonah Czerwinski, homeland security projects director at the Center for the Study of the Presidency. The Bush administration is seeking $234 million in fiscal 2007 to research nuclear and radiological countermeasures and $330 million for biological countermeasures, according to an AAAS analysis.  Both figures reflect steady or growing funding support over the past few years for such work. Funding for explosives detection research, however, has been erratic, dropping from $110 million to $44 million, with the administration seeking $82 million for next year. The uneven support has demoralized explosives researchers, according to Tony Fainberg, a private consultant who worked earlier for Homeland Security overseeing explosives and radiation detection.  He called for more support for the department’s transportation security laboratory, saying it “urgently needs some stability organizationally and financially to operate” (Spencer Hsu, Washington Post, Aug. 20). Back to top

Conference Addresses U.S. Intelligence Troubles A number of strategies are being considered to improve the U.S. intelligence system, federal officials said yesterday at a conference in Denver (see GSN, July 28). Intelligence gatherers “have become vacuum cleaners on steroids,” said Deputy National Intelligence Director Thomas Fingar said on the first day of the Information Sharing Conference. Questions over analysts’ access to that collected intelligence leaves large amounts of information that “is just data.  We are awash in data,” he said, according to the Denver Post. Without significant change, “we become a very expensive irrelevance,” Fingar said. Plans to address this problem include: —Setting up a system akin to the online “Wikipedia,” in which analysts from all 16 intelligence agencies could contribute information about a particular situation, rather than only those who deal directly with that topic. —Using a standard format for intelligence reports in order to give all analysts access to all collected information. —Using a “geek squad” to help older analysts understand and use new technology that would allow wider distribution of information. —Developing a database that would list all analysts and their areas of coverage.  This would allow intelligence officials to put together teams from various agencies based on expertise, the Post reported. While the incorrect assessments of prewar Iraq’s WMD capabilities have highlighted weaknesses in the U.S. intelligence system, officials at the conference said improvements have been made. Multiple agencies now view intelligence to be submitted to President George W. Bush.  Questions about the information are discussed at senior-level meetings. Three intelligence agencies collaborated in the hunt for al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June U.S. air strike (see GSN, June 8). Information sharing with allies has also improved, said Dale Meyerrose, associate national intelligence director. “The barriers have really come down.  A lot of this stuff is coming together,” said Assistant Defense Secretary John Grimes (Bruce Finley, Denver Post, Aug. 22). Back to top

Iran Formally Rejects Demand to Suspend Enrichment Program Iran formally delivered its much-anticipated reply today to a six-nation proposal to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, rejecting a demand to suspend its uranium enrichment activities before resuming any negotiations, Tehran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported (see GSN, Aug. 21). The response also effectively rejected a U.N. Security Council demand that Iran suspend its enrichment program by Aug. 31.  Still, Tehran’s response offered a “new formula for resolving the issue through talks,” according to Fars (Barbash/Linzer, Washington Post, Aug. 22). In Tehran, chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani hand-delivered Iran’s response to ambassadors from the countries backing the proposal:  China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.  Switzerland acted as the U.S. intermediary because there is no U.S. Embassy in Iran (Edmund Blair, Reuters, Aug. 22). “Iran has provided a comprehensive response to everything said in the Western package,” said one Iranian official.  “In addition, Iran, in its formal response, has asked some questions to be answered” (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 22). Details of the response and negotiating proposal have not yet been reported, but Iranian officials have consistently said they would not suspend the nation’s enrichment program as a precondition to continuing nuclear talks.  Still, one official said Iran’s reply would open the door to resuming diplomacy. “Iran’s response will provide the West with an exceptional chance for an understanding and a return to talks,” said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. The question of suspending uranium enrichment, however, remains the key point of contention. “If they reject suspension (of enrichment), that’s rejection of the package (for Western capitals),” said one Western diplomat.  China and Russia, however, might be less rigid. “If they said suspension was negotiable, there would be pressure on (the six powers) to think about it,” the diplomat added (Blair, Reuters). In Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday urged the international community to support the U.S. position. “There must be consequences if people thumb their nose at the United Nations Security Council, and we will work with people in the Security Council to achieve that objective,” he said (Washington Post). While the U.S. officials have said the table is set to impose internationally backed economic or political sanctions, other Security Council members have disagreed. “We have all along stood for a peaceful settlement of the issue through negotiations, rather than resorting to force or threatening sanctions,” Chinese envoy to the Middle East Sun Bigan told reporters today in Beijing.  “Resorting to force and sanctions cannot fully solve problems” (Agence France-Presse/IRNA, Aug. 22). Back to top       IAEA Reports Nuclear Trafficking Incidents The International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday said it had confirmed more than 100 incidents last year of illicit trafficking of nuclear or radioactive materials (see GSN, Sept. 28, 2005). In an annual study describing its Illicit Tracking Database, the agency reported 103 confirmed incidents in 2005, the second highest annual number since the database began in 1993, including 18 involving nuclear materials and 76 involving radioactive materials. Two cases involved small amounts of highly enriched uranium:  a package with 3.3 grams was lost in New Jersey, while a neutron flux detector with 0.017 grams was lost at a nuclear power plant in Fukui, Japan. “From the terrorism threat standpoint, these cases are of little concern, but they show security vulnerabilities at facilities handling HEU” the report says (IAEA release, Aug. 21). Back to top       Trial of Former Russian Nuclear Official Delayed Former Russian atomic energy chief Yevgeny Adamov won a delay in his graft trial yesterday when a Moscow court sent the case back to prosecutors, the Associated Press reported.  The court found that prosecutors had made both factual and procedural errors in their indictment and investigation, according to Zamoskvoretsky District Court Chairwoman Margarita Panfyorova (see GSN, April 24). Adamov faces fraud and abuse charges related to his alleged diversion of $9 million in U.S. funds intended to bolster safety at Russian nuclear facilities. “I am sure that I am innocent, whether I will be successful (in court) is another question,” he told reporters outside the courthouse yesterday (Associated Press/Canadian Business Online, Aug. 21). Prosecutors planned to appeal yesterday’s court ruling. “It is not the first time we have encountered such things,” said spokesman Viktor Antipov.  “I consider that the ruling runs counter to the law” (RIA Novosti, Aug. 22). Back to top       Bush, Hu Discuss North Korea U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao in a telephone conversation yesterday discussed the need to push North Korea to return to six-nation talks on its nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 21). “I talked to Hu Jintao this morning about the six-party talks and the need for us to continue to work together to send a clear message to the North Korean leader that there is a better choice for him than to continue to develop a nuclear weapon,” Bush said. “We talked about how we’ll continue to collaborate and work together,” he said. Bush indicated that Washington would not ease its pursuit of North Korean counterfeiting of U.S. currency in order to boost the chances for success in curbing Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programs. “Counterfeiting U.S. dollars is an issue that every president ought to be concerned about,” he said.  “When you catch people counterfeiting your money, you need to do something about it” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 21). The United States might place a mobile X-band radar in Asia to monitor North Korea, which last month test-fired seven missiles, United Press International reported yesterday. Sites being considered by the Defense Department include South Korea, Guam, and the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Okinawa, according to Kyodo News.  Kyushu and South Korea are closest to North Korea and thus the leading choices for the radar installation, a U.S. official said (United Press International, Aug. 21). Back to top       Khan Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer Former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who headed a smuggling effort that supplied nuclear weapons technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, July 10). Pakistan has kept Khan under house arrest since 2004, following the disclosure of his involvement in the nuclear black market. “The government of Pakistan would like to hold out an assurance that the best specialist medical care is being provided to Dr. A.Q. Khan in consulation with his family and personal doctors,” said an official Information Ministry statement (Munir Ahmad, Associated Press/Biloxi Sun Herald, Aug 22). Back to top

Chemical Attack Victim Testifies at Hussein Trial An Iraqi Kurd testified today in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein that the regime used chemical bombs dropped from the sky in 1987 to devastate his village, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 12). “I saw eight to 12 jets. … There was greenish smoke from the bombs.  It was if there was a rotten apple or garlic smell minutes later.  People were vomiting … we were blind and screaming.  There was no one to rescue us, just God,” said Ali Mostafa Hama. Hama said he saw a newborn child who “was trying to smell life, but he breathed in the chemicals and died.” The April 16, 1987, chemical strike on Balisan and nearby Sheik Wasan appears to be the first use of such weapons by the Hussein regime against its people, according to Human Rights Watch. The gas blinded Hama, who was removed from Balisan by tractor. “We knew we were riding tractors, but our eyes were blind,” he said.  “We were hearing artillery bombings.”  Hama was ultimately placed in prison, AP reported. The attack killed up to 400 villagers, according to Human Rights Watch.  It was followed by the official Anfal campaign, in which the Hussein regime is believed to have killed tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurds. Defense attorneys for Hussein and six former regime officials on trial in Baghdad questioned Hama on whether he could be sure the warplanes that bombed Balisan came from Iraq rather than its neighbor and enemy, Iran. “There were no problems with Iran, why would they bomb us?” he said.  “I am certain they were Iraqi airplanes because two days after the bombardment the Iraqi army came and burned the villages.” Two defendants argued today that the Anfal campaign was meant to eliminate Iranian troops and Kurdish guerrillas. “The goal was to fight an organized army … the goal was not civilians,” said Sultan Hashim al-Tai, commander of Task Force Anfal.  Al-Tai said noncombatants were “safely transported” away from the fighting. “You will see that we are not guilty and that we defended out country honorably and sincerely,” said Sabir al-Douri, who led military intelligence while during the campaign (Rawya Rageh, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 22). Back to top       Witnesses in Hussein Trial to Testify to 40 Chemical Attacks on Kurds, State Department Says By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Prosecutors in the second trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein expect witnesses to testify that his regime used chemical weapons against 40 Kurdish villages during the Anfal campaign, a senior State Department official said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 21). Hussein and his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid face charges of genocide for what prosecutors say was their role in eight military campaigns directed against Kurdish villages in northern Iraq between February and August 1988, according to the official. Estimates on the number of deaths vary.  Some are as high as 182,000 Kurds, while Human Rights Watch puts the number between 50,000 and 100,000. The attacks came at the tail end of the bloody eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, and defendants today argued in Baghdad that the campaign targeted Kurdish rebels aligned with Tehran. A lengthy Human Rights Watch report issued in 1994, however, contends the attacks stemmed from a “deliberate intent on the part of President Saddam Hussein to destroy through mass murder part of Iraq’s Kurdish minority.”  The prosecution expects to describe a systematic targeting of the ethnically distinct Kurdish community in northern Iraq, the State Department official said at a briefing given under the condition of anonymity. Between 2,000 and 4,000 villages were completely destroyed, the official said.  In the majority of cases, the Iraqi military villages isolated Kurdish villages and separated the women and children from the men.  Iraqi forces then executed the male villagers between 16 and 25 years old and disposed of the bodies in mass graves, the official said. Hussein and al-Majid are the only defendants in the trial to be charged with genocide in addition to war crimes and crimes against humanity.  The five other co-defendants, primarily military officials, face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Al-Majid controlled military operations in the north and became known as “Chemical Ali” for his alleged use of chemical weapons during the Anfal campaign. During the trial, the official said testimony would establish that the Iraqi military attacked 40 villages with either mustard or nerve agents.  The chemical weapons were used both to kill villagers and to drive them from their homes to be rounded up by Iraqi intelligence units and Ba’ath Party organizations, according to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. Analysis of soil samples revealed that at least one of the agents used was sarin, said Nehal Bhuta, a lawyer with Human Rights Watch.  Sarin, a chemical roughly 500 times more toxic than cyanide, can kill a human in less than a minute as it destroys the nervous system. It was discovered in the 1930s but had never been used in warfare until employed by Iraqi forces, said Amy Smithson, a chemical weapons expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  The chemical was originally discovered during research to develop a better way to kill cockroaches, she said. The Aum Shinrikyo cult used sarin in a 1995 attack on the Tokyo subway system killing 12 and injuring thousands (see GSN, Aug. 18) Mustard gas, an agent that causes skin to blister, was used widely in World War I and again during the Iran-Iraq war. The March 1988 gas attack on the town of Halabja, which is estimated to have killed as many as 5,000 people using both sarin and mustard, will not be included in the current trial.  That attack is to be considered separately as one of the roughly 14 cases against Hussein-regime leaders expected to go before the Iraqi High Tribunal. The senior State Department official was unable to say why the Halabja attack was not included in the Anfal case, but Bhuta of Human Rights Watch said he believes it was separated due to the “singularly large number of victims killed by gas.” That attack came after Kurdish militias believed to be backed by Iranian forces captured the town.  It is not considered part of the Anfal campaign. The Anfal trial is the second case against Hussein to come before the High Tribunal.  Hussein and seven co-defendants were previously tried for atrocities allegedly committed against Iraqi Shiites in the town of Dujail following an attempt on Hussein life in 1982. All the defendants in that trial face execution by hanging if convicted.  A verdict in that case is expected on Oct. 16. According to Iraqi law, a death sentence must be carried out within 30 days of the end of the final appeal in a case.  It remains unclear how a guilty verdict in that case would affect the ongoing Anfal trial, the State Department official said. Back to top

U.S. Missile Defense Chief Opposes Faster Testing The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency last week argued against congressional efforts to quicken the pace for testing U.S. missile shield components, Inside the Army reported (see GSN, July 21). Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering said existing testing schedules are “about right.” “We have continually tried to balance the pace of what we are developing and putting in the field,” he said during the Space and Missile Defense conference in Huntsville, Ala.  “If you go too far one way, we will quickly get inventory into the field that we will have to (make) major improvements to in coming years and that is not the most cost effective way to do that.” “On the other hand, if you don’t put inventory out and test it sufficiently, then you don’t have any capability in the near-term to address threats you may be faced with,” he added. Legislation being considered in Congress would push for a focus on missile defense systems that could be ready in the near future, rather than those that would take longer to develop. The Senate Appropriations Committee in its fiscal 2007 defense-spending bill designated $225 million for “test infrastructure enhancements, operational support and interceptors.” Additional funds might not mean faster development of the Ground-based Missile Defense system, Obering said. “What people don’t quite understand, sometimes, is that especially with a long-range test, we gather immense amounts of data that we want to make sure that we go through and analyze,” he said.  “So we take this time to go through that, analyze that and make adjustments … to the program.  So that is what paces … our test program.  It’s not so much the amount of resources” (Ashley Roque, Inside the Army, Aug. 21). Back to top

Judge Dismisses One Charge Against Padilla A U.S. District Court judge yesterday dismissed one of three charges filed against former “dirty bomb” suspect Jose Padilla, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 3). Judge Marcia Cooke said the charge of conspiracy to “murder, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country” duplicated the other counts in the federal indictment against Padilla and other defendants.  A trial on all three charges would be a violation of the constitutional ban against prosecuting people on the same charges twice, she ruled. Padilla could have served life in prison if convicted of the dismissed charge.  Defendants could still be sentenced to life if the other terrorism-related charges can be connected directly to a death, AP reported (Curt Anderson, Associated Press/The Herald Sun, Aug. 22).   Back to top

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