North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan, shown last month in Beijing, planned to continue meetings with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill today in Berlin. The two held six hours of "useful" talks yesterday, Hill said. Another meeting could occur tomorrow (Frederic Brown/Getty Images). U.S., North Korea to Continue Nuclear Talks in Germany U.S. and North Korean envoys were set to meet again today and possibly tomorrow in Germany for further discussions on Pyongyang’s nuclear program, Reuters reported (see GSN, Jan. 16). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met for six hours yesterday with lead North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan.  Hill called the talks “useful” but indicated that no deals would be made in Berlin. “It’s very important that any negotiating or deal-making needs to be done in the six-party process,” Hill said, referring to the negotiations involving China, Japan, Russia, the United States and North and South Korea...Full Story

Iran to Open Nuclear Sites to Diplomats Iran has invited a group of diplomats to visit its nuclear facilities in a display of transparency, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 16)...Full Story

China to Add Radioactivity Monitors China plans to expand its network of radiation sensors to monitor the safety of its growing nuclear power program and to check on nuclear activity in North Korea, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, April 27, 2004)...Full Story

	Wednesday, January 17, 2007

“Millennium Bomber” to Get New Prison Sentence A U.S. federal appeals court yesterday directed a lower court to resentence a man convicted of plotting to explode a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, June 20, 2006). Ahmed Ressam was apprehended in late 1999 while trying to enter the United States with explosives and other bomb-making materials.  Dubbed by the media as the “Millennium Bomber,” Ressam was convicted in 2001 on several terrorism charges and sentenced to 22 years in prison. The U.S. Circuit Court in San Francisco vacated one of those charges yesterday and directed the District Court in Seattle to recalculate Ressam’s sentence. The process could be delayed, however, as the Circuit Court and U.S. Supreme Court are currently considering changes to U.S. federal sentencing guidelines (Henry Weinsten, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 17). Back to top

U.S., North Korea to Continue Nuclear Talks in Germany U.S. and North Korean envoys were set to meet again today and possibly tomorrow in Germany for further discussions on Pyongyang’s nuclear program, Reuters reported (see GSN, Jan. 16). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met for six hours yesterday with lead North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan.  Hill called the talks “useful” but indicated that no deals would be made in Berlin. “It’s very important that any negotiating or deal-making needs to be done in the six-party process,” Hill said, referring to the negotiations involving China, Japan, Russia, the United States and North and South Korea. These are the first direct meetings between the top negotiators outside of the six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program, Reuters reported.  Officials said the talks this week might indicate that Washington is prepared to back off from some of the financial sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.  The Stalinist state has used the economic penalties as a reason against resuming serious negotiations on the nuclear issue. Further talks on the sanctions are scheduled to resume next week in New York or Beijing, Hill said.  “The United States should make some steps toward the (North) Koreans by lifting financial sanctions,” said new Russian lead negotiator Alexander Losyukov. Hill said he hoped to see the next round of six-party talks before the end of January, Reuters reported. South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said officials this week might find common ground on moving toward implementation of the September 2005 agreement in which North Korea pledged in principle to eliminate its nuclear weapons program. “There will have to be a good platform laid at this meeting for reaching an agreement on early steps on implementing the Sept. 19 joint statement,” he said. There is no indication that North Korea is making preparations for a follow-up to its Oct. 9 nuclear test, Song said. However, a European diplomat said intelligence reports indicate otherwise.  A test might be scheduled for North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s birthday in February, or that of his predecessor and father Kim Il Sung in April (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Jan. 17). Meanwhile, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton today described the six-party talks as a failed process, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 4, 2006). “Six-party talks have not worked.  They are not likely to work,” he said in Tokyo. World powers “need to do something different in order to prevent North Korea from becoming an even greater threat to the region and around the world than it already is,” he said. “I think, realistically over time, the only answer to the North Korean nuclear weapons program is the collapse of the regime and North Korea, and hopefully a peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula,” Bolton said (Agence France-Presse/News Interactive, Jan. 17). Back to top       Iran to Open Nuclear Sites to Diplomats Iran has invited a group of diplomats to visit its nuclear facilities in a display of transparency, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 16). The invited diplomats come from developing nations represented at the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is assessing whether to end some nuclear assistance programs with Iran.  Nations expected to send envoys include Egypt, Cuba and Malaysia, Reuters reported. “They have been invited to visit our nuclear installations from the 2nd [of February] through the 6th,” said an Iranian diplomat (Mark Heinrich, Reuters/Washington Post, Jan. 16). The agency review of its assistance programs was spurred by last month’s U.N. Security Council resolution that bars aid to Iran’s nuclear or missile programs.  The agency is reviewing more than 15 technical assistance programs, some of which appear to be clearly peaceful, such as cancer therapy efforts, the Associated Press reported yesterday.  Others, however, could be potentially useful to a nuclear weapons program, such as nuclear waste management projects, according to AP. The United States has argued that at least half of the agency programs should be canceled.  Other nations, including U.S. allies, have opposed Washington’s position, AP reported (George Jahn, Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 16). Meanwhile, agency inspectors have wrapped up a visit to Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, an Iranian nuclear official said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 11). “The progress made in Natanz has been so rapid that it has caused sensitivity at the agency,” said the official.  “We hope that with this visit the sensitivities will disappear” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 16).  Back to top       China to Add Radioactivity Monitors China plans to expand its network of radiation sensors to monitor the safety of its growing nuclear power program and to check on nuclear activity in North Korea, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, April 27, 2004). The nation established six radiation monitoring centers last year, and the government plans to spend more than $5 million this year to improve its detection capability, according to Zhou Shengxian, minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration. “The significance of nuclear and radioactive security was underscored … following the nuclear test last October in neighboring Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” said the China Daily, citing Zhou (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 17). Back to top       Russia Looks to Boost Nuclear Trade With India Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit India next week, in part to promote increased nuclear cooperation between the two nations, India’s Economic Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 16). As the pending U.S.-Indian nuclear trade deal progresses, Russia does not want to miss the opportunity to increase its own nuclear trade with India, according to the Times. Officials next week are expected to discuss “a roadmap for peaceful expansion of civil nuclear energy which could include expansion of Koodamkulam and some other areas where India is planning to get atomic reactors,” said Russian Ambassador Vyacheslav Ivanovich. Russia has supplied nuclear technology and equipment to India in the past, including a power reactor at Koodamkulam and fuel for a reactor facility at Tarapur (see GSN, April 26, 2006). For the U.S.-Indian nuclear deal to proceed, international nuclear trade restrictions must be modified by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, potentially freeing up all nations to trade with India. Russia hopes to sell reactor fuel and reprocessing technology to India, the Times reported (Nirmala Ganapathy, Economic Times, Jan. 16). Meanwhile, Japan has not yet decided whether to support changing the NSG trade rules, Kyodo News reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 15, 2006). Foreign Minister Taro Aso met with Indian nuclear envoy Shyam Saran yesterday, but Aso said Tokyo wants to get more information before agreeing to support the changes (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, Jan. 16). Back to top       TV Nuclear Blast Too Much, Critics Say The nuclear blast that ended the fourth hour of the television serial “24” on Monday might have been too much given the very real fears that terrorists could obtain an atomic weapon, critics told ABC News (see GSN, March 7, 2005). Al-Qaeda trainees are known to watch movie videos “to get ideas,” said Jack Cloonan, a former FBI antiterror agent in New York. “The show has huge entertainment value, but it ups the ante for everybody,” Cloonan said.  “We saw what Columbine did.  Fox may think they are doing a public service, but I don’t see any redeeming value at all.” Each season of the Fox Broadcasting Co. show consists of efforts over one day by a counterterrorism agency to prevent a major attack on U.S. soil.  On Monday, agent Jack Bauer and his co-workers were unable to stop terrorists from setting off a nuclear device. “This television show is very political, and it’s no accident that it’s on Fox,” said University of Massachusetts communications professor Sut Jhally, alluding to Fox’s widely perceived conservative leanings.  “Given their propaganda system, it doesn’t surprise me.” Fictional depictions of terrorism in movies and television shows can have effects in the real world, Jhally said. “Fear has been used to paralyze people’s intellects,” he told ABC News.  “If they can scare people, almost anything becomes possible.  When people are afraid their brains shut off and it makes you confused and want easy solutions.” Stereotypes about Arabs are promoted on shows such as “24,” Jhally said.  The episode Monday made direct connections between Arabs and nuclear terrorism, and comes amidst fears in Washington that Iran is developing atomic weapons, he said. “Iran is on the news about nuclear power, and now there is an American TV story on an Arab terrorist using nuclear power.  It’s dangerous because this present administration wants any excuse to attack an enemy.” Others are less concerned. “If private citizens don’t like the broadcast, they don’t have to watch it,” said civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby.  “Remember what mom said, it’s not real.  I recognize the power of an image to motivate people, but our political leaders are far more dangerous than the collateral effects of a mushroom cloud on “24” (Susan Donaldson James, ABC News, Jan. 15). “Have none of these people watched the show before?  Nuclear threats are as common as commercial breaks on ‘24’,” according to Time magazine critic James Poniewozik (Time, Jan. 16). Back to top       Work Begun on U.K. Trident Replacement, Critics Say Preparations are already being made to replace the British Trident nuclear missile system, even though lawmakers have not yet voted whether to approve the work, an antinuclear organization said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 4, 2006). The Aldermaston Women’s Peace Campaign said that work on facilities at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston indicates that the government is not waiting for a vote in Parliament, Agence France-Presse reported. “Plans for warhead replacement are already well advanced,” the group said in a written statement submitted to the House of Commons Defense Select Committee. “APWC are calling on the government to come clean about the fact that at AWE Aldermaston, the Ministry of Defense has already started work on facilities to test, design and build new warheads, in advance of any parliamentary decision,” the organization added. Labor Party committee member Kevan Jones called the claims a “conspiracy theory,” AFP reported. The organization “got it wrong,” a Defense Ministry spokesman said.  He said that Aldermaston is undergoing its first refurbishment since the 1960s (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 16). Another antinuclear group said yesterday that the British plan to replace the Trident would promote nuclear proliferation, the London Guardian reported.  Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Vice President Bruce Kent also argued that a government white paper issued in December failed to specify the kind of warheads that would be placed on missiles.  The document did not say “who would be deterred, how and with what,” he said, calling development of a new nuclear deterrent a “green light” to other nations. The white paper did not confirm the government’s pledge to reduce the number of operational warheads from fewer than 200 to fewer than 160, according to the Scottish branch of the organization.  Development of a lower-yield warhead could increase the likelihood that the United Kingdom would actually use one, the branch said. Given the white paper’s determination that the existing Trident warhead design is “likely to last into the 2020s,” critics of the British plan say a decision on replacing the system could be pushed back by a decade, the Guardian reported (Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, Jan. 17). Back to top

Taliban Official Said Found With Anthrax Afghan authorities found anthrax in a house on Monday as they arrested a Taliban spokesman and two other men, according to a provincial governor (see GSN, March 28, 2006). The arrest of Mohammad Hanif occurred late Monday in a house in the eastern Nangarhar province, roughly 50 miles from Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, Agence France-Presse reported. “We arrested him with two other people, recovered three Kalashnikovs, and some packets containing anthrax powder were also found with him,” said province governor Gul Aghar Sherzai.  He did not say how much powder was recovered or how it had been proven to be anthrax. Police and intelligence officials declined to confirm Sherzai’s statement.  This would be the first recovery of anthrax powder in Afghanistan (Agence France-Presse/The Nation, Jan. 17). Back to top

Umatilla Contractor Faces $54,000 Fine The private operating contractor for the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Oregon has been fined $54,600 for multiple violations of its hazardous waste permit, The Hermiston Herald reported Friday (see GSN, March 9, 2006). Washington Demilitarization Co. operates the weapons incinerator along with the U.S. Army. The Oregon Environmental Quality Department noted a total of six permit violations.  These included failure by the company to monitor the plant’s heating, ventilation and cooling filter unit for 33 days in 2006 and lack of correct monitoring of a liquid incinerator on three days last year. The violations are not believed to have caused the release of any chemical agents or waste, the agency said in a press release. The deadline to appeal the fines is Jan. 24 (The Hermiston Herald, Jan.12). Back to top

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