South African U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, shown earlier this year, expressed disappointment yesterday that he was unable to modify a draft Security Council resolution on Iran (Stan Honda/Getty Images). U.N. Security Council Ready to Vote on Iran Sanctions Leading U.N. Security Council nations yesterday rejected efforts to ease a draft resolution to impose more rigorous economic sanctions against Iran, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 22). The resolution, intended to persuade Iran to freeze its nuclear activities and return to the negotiating table, is now expected to be voted upon tomorrow, said British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry...Full Story

Envoy Optimistic on North Korea Nuclear Situation The lead U.S. envoy to six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program expressed optimism today that Pyongyang would follow through on its disarmament agreement, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 22)...Full Story

Iraq War Bills Add Billions for Homeland Security By Chris Strohm CongressDaily WASHINGTON — The $121.6 billion emergency supplemental Iraq war spending bill approved by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday includes more than $2 billion for domestic homeland security programs (see GSN, March 14)...Full Story

	Friday, March 23, 2007

Iraq War Bills Add Billions for Homeland Security By Chris Strohm CongressDaily WASHINGTON — The $121.6 billion emergency supplemental Iraq war spending bill approved by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday includes more than $2 billion for domestic homeland security programs (see GSN, March 14). Funding allocations differ in several ways, however, from companion legislation in the House, setting up issues that will need to be resolved in conference. Both bills would boost funding for border and port security, rail and mass transit grants and for purchasing explosives detection equipment at the nation’s airports. But the Senate bill would provide $625 million for rail and mass transit security grants, compared to $225 million provided by the House bill. “Despite the train bombings in London, Madrid, Moscow, Tokyo and Mumbai, [the Homeland Security Department] has limited its response to issuing unenforceable policy directives, deploying two very limited pilot programs, and distributing limited amounts of money to secure rail and transit facilities,” Democratic appropriators said in a release. “The transit community has estimated $6 billion is needed in security related costs,” appropriators added.  “This legislation helps to meet that need.” In other areas, though, the House bill provides more funding. House appropriators, for example, allocated $1 billion for buying and installing in-line baggage explosives detection systems at airports.  The Senate bill provides $600 million for that effort. The House bill also provides $160 million to increase the screening of air cargo carried on passenger airplanes.  By comparison, the Senate bill would provide about $75 million. The two bills are aligned in other ways, however. Both would provide an additional $190 million for port security grants, bringing total fiscal 2007 funding up to $400 million — the amount authorized in a major maritime security bill signed into law last year. “Currently, major projects that would provide serious security for our ports are not occurring because there is simply not enough funds allocated to ports each year to tackle larger projects,” appropriators said in the statement. Democrats also successfully included language in the bill clarifying that states have the right to pass and enforce stronger chemical security laws than the federal government (see related GSN story, today). “The safety of our citizens and the security of our chemical facilities is simply too important to ignore,” said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who took credit for inserting the language.  “It’s time to protect the nation and to put the needs of the American people over the wants of the chemical industry lobbyists.” The chemical industry heavily opposes the language, arguing that the Homeland Security Department should be given time to issue final chemical security regulations that create a level regulatory regime across the nation. The House bill goes farther than the Senate bill when it comes to regulating chemical facilities, setting up another issue that will have to be resolved in conference. Back to top       Canadian Lawmakers Knock Port Security Security at Canadian ports is not adequate to prevent terrorists from smuggling an unconventional weapon into the country, a panel of lawmakers said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2005). Cargo ships bring 4 million containers to Canada every year.  Nearly one-third of those continue on to the United States, the Canadian Press reported. “Any one of these containers could contain chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive devices designed to lay waste to a large Canadian or U.S. target,” the Senate security and defense committee said in its report.  “Is this probable?  Perhaps not.  But was it probable in 2001 that a bunch of terrorists would commandeer planes and fly them into buildings?” Threats to security at the 19 Canadian ports include organized crime, insufficient amounts of personnel and equipment, and trying to “do security on the cheap,” lawmakers said. They called for improved screening of sea cargo, adding hundreds of police officers and installing an advanced security pass system, CP reported.  Machines that use gamma rays for imaging should be deployed at all ports to ensure that every container is scanned for possible weapons of mass destruction, the committee said. Not everyone agreed with the lawmakers’ assessment.  Canada has made significant advances in port security in recent years, according to government and port officials. “It’s not something that’s been ignored,” said Gary LeRoux, executive director of the Association of Canadian Port Authorities.  Port security is the “No. 1 issue,” he said. Security is now based on risk management and focuses on suspicious cargo. It is “impossible to have complete control of every item in the containers moving all around the world,” LeRoux said (Jim Bronskill, Canadian Press/The Globe and Mail, March 23). Back to top

U.N. Security Council Ready to Vote on Iran Sanctions Leading U.N. Security Council nations yesterday rejected efforts to ease a draft resolution to impose more rigorous economic sanctions against Iran, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 22). The resolution, intended to persuade Iran to freeze its nuclear activities and return to the negotiating table, is now expected to be voted upon tomorrow, said British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry. The latest sanctions were negotiated by Germany and the five permanent council members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — which circulated the draft resolution to the 10 rotating council members late last week. The new batch of sanctions adds to previous measures enacted in December that prohibited nuclear and missile trade to Iran and froze the assets of 22 Iranian individuals and firms. The resolution now before the council would expand the list of assets to be frozen, would prohibit U.N. nations from purchasing Iranian weapons, and would discourage the sale of heavy weapons to Iran, AFP reported. Council president South Africa had sought to eliminate the asset-freezing and arms-embargo provisions from the draft, arguing that those measures were not directed at Iran’s nuclear program. South Africa also tried to have the resolution call for an immediate suspension of existing U.N. sanctions for 90 days if Iran agreed to simultaneously freeze its uranium enrichment and other sensitive nuclear programs.  The circulated draft calls for the sanctions to ease only after Iran suspends its programs. Unity among the veto-holding permanent council members, however, meant the South African efforts had little chance. “We are disappointed because we made the amendments in good faith,” said South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo. Qatari and Indonesian efforts to insert language calling for a WMD-free zone in the Middle East was similarly pushed to the side, AFP reported Some language was added to emphasize the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency as the institution responsible for assessing Iran’s nuclear activities, according to AFP. Those changes were only “cosmetic,” Kumalo said. Acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff praised the decision to keep the more stringent measures in the resolution. “We embraced amendments that were consistent with the philosophy of the resolution, which is built on a framework of two previous resolutions and those that would enhance its clarity, that would add to its value,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 22). Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he would make fresh suggestions for resolving the nuclear crisis when he addresses the council before it votes on the new resolution. “We are going to make new proposals, good proposals,” he told France 2 television in an interview broadcast yesterday.  “Our proposals will be based in law and in the inalienable rights that every nation has.  Not just on what the United States or Great Britain wants” (Reuters, March 22). Heavy-Water Reactor Iran is continuing to build a heavy-water nuclear reactor at Arak and a nearby facility to produce the heavy water, the Institute for Science and International Security disclosed this week (see GSN, Nov. 22, 2006). In addition to demanding that Iran freeze its uranium enrichment activities, the Security Council has required a freeze to the nation’s heavy-water reactor program. Satellite images taken over the past two years, however, indicated that construction has continued at the site, with progress on the reactor itself and the erection of new buildings, an ISIS report says. When the reactor becomes operational, estimated by Iran to be in 2009, it would be able to produce about 9 kilograms of weapon-grade plutonium annually, ISIS estimated.  That would be enough for one to two weapons each year (Institute for Science and International Security release, March 20). Back to top       Envoy Optimistic on North Korea Nuclear Situation The lead U.S. envoy to six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program expressed optimism today that Pyongyang would follow through on its disarmament agreement, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 22). Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said he still believes Pyongyang can meet the mid-April deadline set by the Feb. 13 deal to halt operations at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and readmit international inspectors. This came after North Korean negotiators spent the week refusing to participate in the latest round of multilateral negotiations, saying they were waiting for the transfer promised by Washington of $25 million that had been frozen at a bank in Macau.  “I don’t think there is a broader point about whether they are committed to the nuclear deal.  I think they are.  Throughout the week, they reiterated that,” Hill said. The money was supposed to be shifted from Banco Delta Asia to a North Korean account at the Bank of China.  It has not arrived. There has been no request to accept the transfer, the Bank of China said late yesterday, seemingly contradicting officials who said earlier that the delay had been caused by “technical problems.” Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser is expected to return to Beijing “relatively soon” to deal with the problem, the State Department said. The money matter should be resolved by next week, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said today.  However, Seoul’s chief nuclear negotiator, Chun Young-woo, said it could take two to three weeks to finish off the dispute (Hiyama/Kwanwoo, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 23). Hill said six-nation negotiations could resume within the next two weeks, Reuters reported. “As soon as we get this bank transfer done, we probably will put our heads together and decide whether we need to have another six-party meeting,” he said.  “I think that’s quite possible, because there are a couple of things that we want to get done” (Chris Buckley, Reuters/Yahoo!News, March 23). Japanese officials today called on North Korea to follow through on its obligations under the nuclear deal, for which it would receive fuel oil and equivalent assistance, Bloomberg News reported. “It is extremely regrettable that North Korea’s insistence on the funds transfer impeded the full-scale discussions on denuclearization,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki.  “It is our common recognition we must implement what was agreed” (Yamamura/Ueno, Bloomberg News, March 23). Back to top       Cambodia to Join Nuclear Terror Prevention Effort Cambodia has signaled its intention to join the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday (see GSN, March 19). Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told ambassadors from Russia and the United States that Cambodia would sign the protocol, which Moscow and Washington have been promoting since last year. The initiative calls on partner nations to take various measures to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear material for weapons.  These include improving accounting, control and safeguards of nuclear and radioactive materials; halting smuggling of nuclear materials; and cooperating on development of “technical means to combat nuclear terrorism.” The effort began with 13 nations.  Ukraine has also said it would join. Cambodia has already signed a similar protocol as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Koh Santepheap newspaper reported (Xinhua News Agency/People's Daily, March 22). Back to top       Ukraine Boosts Nuclear Security The Ukrainian Security Service has moved to ensure the security of nuclear sites in the country, Interfax reported yesterday (see GSN, March 19). “We are paying closer attention to the guarding of nuclear facilities on the territory of our state and to combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” said acting service head Valentyn Nalyvaichenko.  “We are organizing specialized defense with our forces and resources, antiterrorist and specialized training on the territory of such facilities. “The SBU will continue to help if people are open for cooperation,” he added.  “If not, it will demand that measures should be taken to make the managers of such enterprises ensure proper standards of security” (Interfax, March 22). Back to top       Russia, IAEA to Continue Uranium Enrichment Talks Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency have established a working group to advance efforts by Moscow to create an international uranium enrichment site, the agency announced yesterday (see GSN, March 22). Russia has proposed that its reactor fuel production facility at Angarsk be the first site in an international network intended to provide fuel to developing nations to dissuade them from building their own facilities.  Uranium enrichment technology can be used to produce both nuclear reactor fuel and nuclear weapon material. Russia and the U.N. nuclear watchdog officials established the working group following a meeting last week at Angarsk. One official said the agency’s main concern was to ensure that fuel supplies to client nations would continue regardless of political disagreements (International Atomic Energy Agency release, March 22). Back to top       India Defends Nuclear Record, Calls NPT a “Fraud” India defended its nonproliferation record today when a top official sought Japanese support for allowing New Delhi to acquire nuclear technology from international suppliers, the Press Trust of India reported (see GSN, March 12). To enable the planned U.S.-Indian nuclear trade deal, international nuclear suppliers must agree to exempt India from export control rules intended to deny nuclear technologies to nations that have not joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Japan is among those nuclear suppliers and Indian officials have visited regularly over the past several months (see GSN, Dec. 15, 2006). “India has an impeccable record on nonproliferation.  We have also consistently been a leading advocate of the elimination of all nuclear weapons,” Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a Tokyo think tank. “If India did not sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, it is not because of its lack of commitment for nonproliferation, but because we consider NPT as a fraud treaty and it did not recognize the need for universal, nondiscriminatory verification and treatment,” he added (Press Trust of India/OutlookIndia.com, March 23). Meanwhile, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman expressed displeasure yesterday with Indian plans to purchase oil and gas from Iran.  New Delhi is pursuing a $7 billion pipeline to Iran across Pakistan, Reuters reported. “There have been conversations ... and if that is allowed to go forward, in our judgment, this will contribute to development of nuclear weapons,” he said on the final day of a three-day visit to India (see GSN, March 21). “I think it's against the interest of the United States.  I think that supporting nuclear weapons is against the interest of the world,” he added (Reuters/Dawn, March 23). Back to top

Lawmakers Try to Curb Chemical Plant Security Rules U.S. Senate Democrats have introduced legislative language to prevent pending federal regulations over chemical plant security from overriding more stringent state rules, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, March 21). The Homeland Security Department released a set of draft regulations in December and is expected to issue the final rules early next month, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 22, 2006). Senate Democrats, similar to their House counterparts, have sought to limit those rules in a provision they attached to an Iraq war spending bill, according to AP. “Our language supports stronger chemical security laws like those in New Jersey and protects states’ rights,” said Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) in a statement.  “The Bush administration should not undermine these state laws and leave our country at risk of a chemical attack.” The lawmakers’ ploy has drawn criticism from the administration. “State laws ultimately cannot and should not conflict with federal authorities for securing chemical facilities,” said Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke, who argued that the federal government should lead homeland security efforts (Beverley Lumpkin, Associated Press/Houston Chronicle, March 22). Back to top       Interim Chief Takes Over U.S. Chemical Agency A senior official with the U.S. Chemical Materials Agency has been named interim head of its sister project, the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program, The Pueblo Chieftain reported today (see GSN, Jan. 5). Kevin Flamm will lead the agency that is developing neutralization facilities to eliminate chemical weapons stored at depots in Colorado and Kentucky. Flamm replaces Mike Parker, who until this year oversaw both weapons disposal programs.  Parker is retiring from government service next week, after relinquishing leadership of the Chemical Materials Agency in January. Flamm previously served as program manager for the elimination of chemical weapons at the Chemical Materials Agency, which manages incineration of weapons at several plants. A permanent ACWA chief is expected to be named by late May (John Norton, The Pueblo Chieftain, March 23). Back to top

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