Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh led Iran’s delegation to the just-ended Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty meeting in Vienna (Samuel Kubani/Getty Images). NPT Meeting Ends in Discord Delegates failed to agree Friday on a closing statement from the chairman of a meeting on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, as Iran and other Nonaligned Movement nations objected to the proposed language, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 11). The disagreement caused the statement to be reduced to a “working paper” instead of a “summary” describing the meeting’s discussions.  The two-week session in Vienna, intended to prepare for the treaty’s 2010 review conference, was also marred by the inability to agree to an agenda for more than a week...Full Story

Iran Did Not Shut Out Nuclear Inspectors, IAEA Says The International Atomic Energy Agency quickly denied a news report Friday claiming that Iran had prevented agency officials from conducting a surprise inspection of the nation’s uranium enrichment centrifuges, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 11)...Full Story

End Seen to North Korean Financial Standoff A top Japanese lawmaker said yesterday that the dispute over frozen funds that has held up the beginning of North Korean denuclearization could be dealt with in a matter of days, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, May 11)...Full Story

	Monday, May 14, 2007

Concerns Grow Over Internal U.S. Terror Threat There is a growing concern among U.S. security agencies regarding the threat posed to the country by resident Islamic radicals who have no direct links to organizations such as al-Qaeda, USA Today reported today (see GSN, Oct. 2, 2006). “The trend we’re seeing is that we are uncovering more instances of people who have been radicalized … where there is not a direct thumbprint of al-Qaeda,” said FBI assistant public affairs director John Miller. There have been a dozen prosecutions of such cases in the years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to Justice Department records.  Seven have resulted in convictions, while the other cases continue. Charges were filed last week against five Muslims alleged to be planning an assault on Fort Dix, N.J.  Additional charges were filed against another man suspected of helping to procure weapons for the group, USA Today reported. The suspects were from Jordan, Turkey and the former Yugoslavia, and all had lived in the United States for at least six years. “If they look like the neighbors next door, it’s because that’s what they are,” said former FBI counterterrorism chief Pasquale D’Amuro.  “That they would come here, be welcomed and then want to attack us — that’s what people have a hard time understanding.” In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 strikes, the main concern was on similar plots from al-Qaeda “sleeper cells” that would enter the country with the express purpose of conducting acts of terrorism.  Al-Qaeda might be holding off on another attack until it can carry one out that would produce the same number of deaths and attention as seen on Sept. 11, according to intelligence analysts (Richard Willing, USA Today, May 14). Back to top       Padilla Trial Begins Without “Dirty Bomb” Charges U.S. prosecutors are scheduled to begin their opening arguments today in the terrorism trial of Jose Padilla, who was accused on his arrest more than three year ago with plotting a “dirty bomb” attack in the United States, USA Today reported (see GSN, Aug. 22, 2006). Federal officials have since dropped those claims against Padilla, a U.S. citizen who was held in U.S. military custody with limited access to legal aid for more than three years following his 2002 arrest.  Padilla and two co-defendants now face charges of participating in terrorist training in Afghanistan, but they are not accused of any specific attacks plans, according to USA Today. Legal experts now refer to the case as “Padilla light,” said Wake Forest University law professor Robert Chesney. “The case is going to go out with more of a whimper than a bang,” added Stephen Vladeck, a University of Miami law professor who challenged Padilla’s detention in a brief submitted to the Supreme Court.  “When you peel away all the layers, the actual case is circumstantial.  The government's central argument is that Padilla is a bad guy who hung out with other bad guys” (Laura Parker, USA Today, May 14). Back to top

Yamaha Banned From Helicopter Exports for 9 Months The Japanese trade ministry has barred Yamaha Motor Co. from exporting unpiloted helicopters for the next nine months as punishment for an effort by company executives to sell such equipment to China, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, March 26). Authorities arrested three company officials in February, accusing them of intentionally misstating the abilities of a helicopter they were trying to sell to a firm linked to the Chinese military. The remote-control helicopter is designed to spray pesticides, but could be modified to deliver WMD agents, according to AP. Officials ultimately released the three executives without charges after fining Yamaha $8,300 for the attempted sale. The company also conducted in-house punitive actions against 12 officials, including President Takashi Kajikawa, who received a temporary reduction in pay, AP reported (Kozo Mizoguchi, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, May 11). Back to top

NPT Meeting Ends in Discord Delegates failed to agree Friday on a closing statement from the chairman of a meeting on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, as Iran and other Nonaligned Movement nations objected to the proposed language, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 11). The disagreement caused the statement to be reduced to a “working paper” instead of a “summary” describing the meeting’s discussions.  The two-week session in Vienna, intended to prepare for the treaty’s 2010 review conference, was also marred by the inability to agree to an agenda for more than a week. Iran argued that it was unfairly singled out in the proposed chairman’s summary.  Relegated to working-paper status, the document included this paragraph on Iran: “Serious concern was expressed over Iran’s nuclear program and that state party was strongly urged to comply with all the requirements in the U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747 and the relevant resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors without further delay.  It was noted that these multiple unanimous Security Council resolutions on Iran’s nuclear program demonstrate the resolve of the international community on this issue.  States parties believed that this issue should be resolved peacefully through diplomatic efforts and negotiations.  For its part, Iran indicated its readiness, provided Security Council disengagement was realized, to resolve issues in the framework of the IAEA.” The failure to agree on an official summary would harm the treaty, said one diplomat. “It gives the impression of a dying NPT, even though we will meet again next year to pick up the ball again,” the diplomat said. “It's not the NAM as such that is causing this impasse, it's the Iranians playing terrible games,” added a European diplomat. One disarmament advocate said the document was even-handed. “We think the report is fair, balanced and representative.  The precedent of rejecting the chair's text undermines standard multilateral practices, which sets a dangerous precedent for the NPT itself,” said Felicity Hill of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Mark Heinrich, Reuters, May 11). Back to top       Iran Did Not Shut Out Nuclear Inspectors, IAEA Says The International Atomic Energy Agency quickly denied a news report Friday claiming that Iran had prevented agency officials from conducting a surprise inspection of the nation’s uranium enrichment centrifuges, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 11). The report had described Iranian officials denying access to the site at Natanz when inspectors attempted to conduct their first-ever unannounced visit. “There is no truth to media reports claiming that the IAEA was not able to get access to Natanz,” said agency spokesman Marc Vidricaire. “We have not been denied access at any time, including in the past few weeks.  Normally we do not comment on such reports but this time we felt we had to clarify the matter,” he added. “If we had a problem like that we would have to report to the (35-nation IAEA governing) board. ... That has not happened because this alleged event did not take place” (Mark Heinrich, Reuters/Australian Broadcasting Corp., May 12). In the meantime, two agency inspectors arrived Saturday in Iran to visit Natanz and the Iranian uranium conversion plant at Isfahan, Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency reported. The inspectors are scheduled to remain in-country for a week, according to the agency (Fars news agency, May 13). Back to top       End Seen to North Korean Financial Standoff A top Japanese lawmaker said yesterday that the dispute over frozen funds that has held up the beginning of North Korean denuclearization could be dealt with in a matter of days, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, May 11). The matter “is likely to be resolved this week,” said Taku Yamasaki, former vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, citing a conversation with a “major member of the (North Korean) team” in the six-party talks. Pyongyang “will shut down its nuclear (facility) and will accept inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency if the bank row is resolved, this person said,” Yamasaki said in a television interview. North Korea has delayed taking those first steps called for by a Feb. 13 denuclearization deal until it collects $25 million that had been frozen at Banco Delta Asia in Macau.  The money is now apparently available, but Pyongyang has found it difficult to find a bank willing to accept funds that the United States had linked to counterfeiting and other illicit financial activity (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, May 13). It has been one month since North Korea missed the deadline to begin meeting its agreed commitments, Kyodo News reported.  Pyongyang would receive 50,000 tons of fuel oil and equivalent aid for making those moves, to be followed by further support upon full dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program. “Behind-the-scenes movements are continuing,” said an Asian diplomat in Beijing.  “Everybody is aware that we can’t spend too much time on this problem, but it has not been untangled yet” (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, May 14). Meanwhile, a former U.S. negotiator on North Korea’s nuclear program today reaffirmed his belief that the regime had a uranium enrichment program, AFP reported. The Agreed Framework freezing Pyongyang’s plutonium program collapsed in 2002 after Washington said a senior North Korean official acknowledged the existence of the uranium effort.  North Korea has denied making any such admission. “They were (pursuing an HEU program).  I definitely thought they were.  I don’t think those facts are in question,” said former Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly.  “It was crystal-clear that they invested hundreds of millions of dollars in it over quite a few years, going back into certainly the late 80s and possibly the early 90s.” A senior U.S. intelligence official said in February that the Bush administration now had “mid-confidence” in the continued existence of a North Korean HEU program (see GSN, Feb. 28).  That was apparently down from “high confidence” in 2002. Kelly expressed doubt about Pyongyang’s willingness to give up its nuclear weapons program, AFP reported. “It is unlikely, yet at least, that North Korea has made the strategic choice to give up its nuclear weapons,” he said in a report submitted to a forum in Seoul (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, May 14). Back to top       U.S. Lawmakers Submit Nuclear Trafficking Bill Two U.S. lawmakers last week introduced legislation intended to further enable prosecution in the United States and abroad for smuggling of nuclear material (see GSN, May 3). “There are large stockpiles of nuclear material that remain poorly secured,” Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a press release.  “These stockpiles pose a grave threat to the United States and securing them is an urgent priority.  We must make every possible effort to stop this deadly trade.” Schiff co-sponsored the Ending Nuclear Trafficking Act with Representative Mac Thornberry (R-Texas).  The bill would: —      Designate the transfer of nuclear weapons, material or technology for terrorism purposes as a crime against humanity punishable under U.S. law; —      Give U.S. courts jurisdiction over any instance of nuclear smuggling around the world if the intended recipient is a terrorist planning to attack the United States, or in cases where there is a link to U.S. citizens, companies, financing or material support; and —      Mandate that the U.S. representative to the United Nations request that other nations also establish nuclear smuggling as a crime against humanity punishable in their courts and by international tribunals (U.S. Representative Adam Schiff release, May 9). Back to top       Indian Court Could Review U.S. Nuclear Trade Deal The Indian Supreme Court could weigh in on the merits of the country’s planned nuclear deal with the United States if one petitioner has his way, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, May 8). Metallurgist M.N. Ramamurthy, a member of the Forum for Integrated National Security in Mumbai, filed a “public interest litigation” petition with the court Friday.  The filing asks the court to delay the trade deal because of “an immediate need to examine” the national security implications of the agreement.   Under the bilateral pact, the United States would lift its ban on nuclear technology and material sales to India in exchange for New Delhi opening its civilian nuclear sector to international monitoring. The petition asks for the public release of all documents related to the planned deal and for the court to establish a committee to study the arrangement (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 13). Back to top

House Authorizes Biodefense Laboratory The U.S. House of Representatives last week approved an authorization bill for the Homeland Security Department that includes funding for the $451 million National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 3). Lawmakers on Wednesday voted 296-196 in favor of the $39.8 billion bill.  The Senate has not yet taken up its version of the funding legislation. California, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin are all competing for the facility.  Kentucky and Tennessee are combining their efforts to bring the laboratory to Kentucky. The new site would replace the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York.  It would conduct research on potential disease and food supply threats, including biological agents that could be used by terrorists. The House legislation also mandates a study by the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments regarding training levels for personnel at Biosafety Level 3 and 4 laboratories, AP reported.  Those facilities have the highest levels of biocontainment and work with the most dangerous pathogens. The proliferation of such facilities worldwide could be outstripping training levels for their personnel, the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said in a report last month. There are also questions regarding whether sufficient biosafety and biosecurity measures are being taken, operational transparency at the facilities, and the necessity for a rapid increase in the number of laboratories, according to the center (Associated Press/Bryan-College Station Eagle, May 11). Back to top       Pennsylvania Firm Develops Fast-Acting Biosensor A Pennsylvania company has developed a biosensor able to determine within five minutes if a suspicious material is a biological agent such as anthrax or ricin, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Friday (see GSN, March 27). Mine Safety Appliances Inc. of Pittsburgh intends its Biosensor 2200R to be used by first responders who might be called to deal with a potentially dangerous substance (see GSN, July 19, 2005).  The device is highly sensitive, with only a 1 in 1 million chance of producing a false reading, according to the manufacturer. “There are some current on-site products, but they can take 45 minutes to determine what the powder is, and their false-positive record is not as exact as our product,” said company product line manager Dave Boden (Rick Stouffer, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 11). Back to top

U.S., Poland Begin Missile Defense Talks The first round of formal talks regarding deploying U.S. missile interceptors in Poland began today in Warsaw, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 10). State Department senior adviser Robert Loftis was discussing the legal status of the proposed installation and its personnel with senior officials from the Polish Foreign and Defense ministries. “There will be no decision taken today, because this is not the appropriate level,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Jaroslaw Rybak. Higher-level meetings are scheduled for May 23 and 24 in Warsaw.  Officials then are expected to consider the “broader policy aspect” of an agreement on the interceptor base, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Andrew Schilling. The talks today followed a meeting that finished Friday between U.S. and Czech Republic officials on possible placement of missile defense radars in that European nation, AP reported.  Loftis led the U.S. side for discussions of legal matters and details of a possible bilateral treaty for the radar base.  Talks between Prague and Washington are expected to resume later this month (Associated Press I/Forbes.com, May 14). Meanwhile, NATO officials last week were unable to persuade a senior Russian military representative that there is value in placing missile defenses in Europe, AP reported. Moscow has repeatedly said it considers the plan a threat to its strategic security.  Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky rejected the U.S. argument that the installations would provide a needed defense against Iranian missiles. Iran “cannot be the reason for the deployment of the U.S. strategic elements,” said Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian general staff.  “What is being created is exactly what we moved away from 15 years ago with the end of the Cold War.” He also questioned Washington’s pledge that only 10 interceptors would be deployed in Europe. “Today 10, tomorrow 20?  Who can give us the guarantees?” he said.  “Nobody tells us how many interceptors there will be in 2020, or 2030” (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, May 10). Despite the Russian rhetoric, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said Friday that Moscow might be open to negotiations on missile defense, Reuters reported. “They’re sending signals ‘negotiate with us,’ and we are naturally ready to negotiate,” he said (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters/Yahoo!News, May 11). Back to top       Japan to Pursue Laser Missile Defense Japan plans to develop a ground-based laser to shoot down North Korean ballistic missiles shortly after they launch, the Australian Courier-Mail reported today (see GSN, April 13). The Defense Ministry intends to ask lawmakers for development funds in the next fiscal year, according to the Mainichi newspaper. The laser system would complement current missile defenses, consisting of Patriot missiles interceptors that are designed to destroy missile targets as enemy warheads near the end of their flight. The nation could also pursue air-based laser defenses, the Courier-Mail reported (see GSN, Jan. 8; The Courier-Mail, May 14). Back to top

Homeland Security Department to Study Radiation Detection of Cargo Moving From Ship to Rail The U.S. Homeland Security Department plans to use the Port of Tacoma in Washington state to study technology and “concepts of operations” for radiation monitoring of cargo being moved from ships to trains, according to a press release issued Friday (see GSN, April 12). The agency hopes the Rail Test Center will produce radiological and nuclear detection systems that could be used at ports around the nation. “The deployment of radiation portal monitors can be much more challenging at seaports where cargo containers depart the port by rail,” Vayl Oxford, head of the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, said in the release.  “DNDO is particularly interested in testing the operational needs as well as evaluating innovative technical solutions to fit the unique radiological and nuclear detection requirements of intermodal terminals.” The new center could evaluate the potential for scanning cargo at several spots within port-rail facilities:  at the dock, in transport to the rail yard, at the rail yard entrance, in the container storage area, during train assembly, and as the train departs (U.S. Homeland Security Department release, May 11). Back to top

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