Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, shown last month, expressed optimism Friday that diplomacy to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis would resume soon (Getty Images). Additional North Korea Nuclear Talks Anticipated The next round of six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program could occur in the near future, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday (see GSN, May 4). “The United States is confident that (the settlement of the issue) is near.  I would not be surprised at all (if the six-party talks) resumed next week,” he said, according to Reuters (Reuters/The Star, May 5)...Full Story

NPT Conference Could End Prematurely Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty talks in Vienna remained inactive today as Iranian diplomats said they needed more time to consult with officials in their capital, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 4)...Full Story

Pakistan Builds Plutonium Separation Facility Pakistan has made progress toward completing its first commercial-scale plutonium separation facility, Kyodo News reported today (see GSN, July 31, 2006)...Full Story

	Monday, May 7, 2007

Tenet Takes Blame for Erroneous Powell Speech Former CIA Director George Tenet took responsibility yesterday for the incorrect information about Iraqi WMD capabilities that former Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered to the U.N. Security Council prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 (see GSN, April 27). Tenet backed Powell’s Feb 5, 2003, presentation by reviewing it carefully beforehand and sitting behind Powell during the speech, Bloomberg News reported (see GSN, Feb. 5, 2003). Tenet believed the information, wrongly accusing Iraq of possessing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs, was “good and solid,” he said yesterday. “We let the secretary down and we undermined the credibility” of the United States, Tenet said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”  “Nobody regrets this more than I do.” Tenet denied any “notion that we would walk the secretary of state out on the world stage and knowingly let him” misstate the facts (Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times, May 7). Back to top

Additional North Korea Talks Nuclear Anticipated The next round of six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program could occur in the near future, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday (see GSN, May 4). “The United States is confident that (the settlement of the issue) is near.  I would not be surprised at all (if the six-party talks) resumed next week,” he said, according to Reuters (Reuters/The Star, May 5). There has been no progress in the atomic standoff since Pyongyang agreed in February to begin denuclearization in exchange for fuel oil and related assistance from other nations participating in the talks.  North Korea missed the April 14 deadline, demanding that it first collect $25 million from Banco Delta Asia. Lead U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill said Washington does not believe that the money issue is simply an excuse for Pyongyang to avoid fulfilling its commitments under the deal, the Associated Press reported. “I know it’s tough to watch the days roll by,” he said Friday at Johns Hopkins University.  “We think our best interest is in being patient.” “It’s been tough,” Hill added.  “Everyone is impatient right now; everyone wants this to get going” (Foster Klug, Associated Press I/Northwest Florida Daily News, May 4). Hill said he still believes that North Korea could conduct the first two phases of the agreement — shutting down and disabling the Yongbyon nuclear reactor — by the end of 2007, Agence France-Presse reported. “I think we can put ourselves into the position that by the latter part of this calendar year, we can get through phase one and phase two and for us to work on phase three,” he said. Disabling the reactor could be done in a matter of weeks, Hill said.  Some of the energy assistance for Pyongyang could also be advanced, he said. “We can recover some list time in the first tranche,” he said.  “We believe we can get this second tranche done in this calendar yet.” Under the third phase of work, North Korean nuclear facilities would be dismantled and removed, and Pyongyang would be required to account for up to 60 kilograms of plutonium.  The final phase is likely to involve “another set of hard bargaining,” Hill said (P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 4). North Korea pledged again today to make fast progress on its commitments once it has the money, AP reported. “The shutdown is something that can be done immediately and it won’t take long,” Foreign Ministry vice spokesman Ri Kyong Son told APTN. Moving the funds has proven far more difficult than anticipated, following the U.S. announcement that the money was available.  Some institutions have reportedly been reluctant to accept money the United States had linked to counterfeiting and other illicit financial activity.  Ri could not say when the money would be in North Korean hands. “The U.S. has made the announcement, but only when we receive the funds can the sanctions be said to have been lifted,” he said.  “Making the announcement itself does not settle the unfreezing of the funds.” The South Korean government might allow one of its state-run banks to accept the funds and potentially solve the impasse, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported. Seoul “studied what it can do to help resolve,” the matter, according to the presidential Blue House.  “However, consultations are now progressing between the directly related parties and we expect the issue to be resolved through them” (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, May 6). Back to top       NPT Conference Could End Prematurely Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty talks in Vienna remained inactive today as Iranian diplomats said they needed more time to consult with officials in their capital, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 4). Iran has refused to adopt a proposed agenda for the planned two-week meeting that began April 30, objecting to agenda language that calls for “reaffirming the need for full compliance” with the treaty.  Iranian officials fear that the wording would open the nation to international criticism as a crisis simmers over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Reuters reported (see related GSN story, today). The weeklong delay could force the meeting’s chairman, Japanese Ambassador Yukiya Amano, to end the meeting today or tomorrow to prevent a spectacle of unending, useless talks, according to Reuters. About 130 nations are participating in the meeting, intended to help prepare them for the treaty’s 2010 review conference.  NPT meetings have historically made decisions by consensus, allowing single nations the power to prevent the acceptance of decisions (Mark Heinrich, Reuters I/Washington Post, May 7). “We do not have instructions from our capital yet. We hope it will be tomorrow,” said one Iranian diplomat.  Officials are reviewing a South African compromise proposal that would attach language to the agenda clarifying that the disputed language was meant to order the compliance “with all provisions” of the treaty. The clarification was intended to address an Iranian complaint that the proposed agenda inadequately urges nuclear powers to meet the treaty’s disarmament obligations (Reuters II/New York Times, May 7). Some diplomats questioned Iran’s sincerity in trying to resolve the agenda dispute. “The Iranians seem chiefly interested in seeing this meeting fail,” said one delegate. Even nations from the Nonaligned Movement that often support Iran in similar settings have avoided backing Tehran this time. “The mood was bad,” said one NAM diplomat. Amano scheduled an all-parties meeting this afternoon to discuss the place and date for the next meeting, the Associated Press reported (George Jahn, Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, May 7).. Back to top       Pakistan Builds Plutonium Separation Facility Pakistan has made progress toward completing its first commercial-scale plutonium separation facility, Kyodo News reported today (see GSN, July 31, 2006). The facility at Kundian, roughly 200 kilometers southwest of Islamabad, could produce weapon-grade plutonium derived from spent fuel irradiated in Pakistani reactors. “The reprocessing plant is nearing completion,” said one source (Kyodo News, May 7). Back to top       West Has Open Mind on Iran Crisis, Officials Say Western nations might be willing to show more flexibility toward Tehran to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, but they continue to require a halt to the nation’s uranium enrichment program before starting talks, the Financial Times reported yesterday (see GSN, May 4). “We can be imaginative and flexible in terms of exploring where negotiations might go,” said one senior British official. Offering one possible solution to the impasse, the official suggested that Iran might need to suspend its program for only a fixed term, such as three or six months.  Such a plan could ease Iranian fears that drawn out negotiations could freeze the nation’s nuclear activities indefinitely, according to the Times. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and lead Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are expected to meet this week, the Times reported. “We need to get through this very difficult minuet between Solana and Larijani about how to get to the table," said U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns.  “Because, once we get to the table, either side can raise anything they wish.  So we are certainly interested in what they have to say and we will listen (to) what they have to say at the table.” The British official also suggested that his nation would listen seriously to a proposal once made by Tehran to allow an international consortium to operate a uranium enrichment facility in Iran.  Western officials have previously rejected this approach, the Times reported (Dombey/Khalaf, Financial Times, May 6). Meanwhile, Iran has convicted and sentenced a man charged with providing nuclear information to a dissident group, Reuters reported Saturday (see GSN, Jan. 10). A court sentenced the unidentified man to three years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of more than $2,000. A former employee of a parliamentary research center, the convicted man was accused of passing nuclear secrets to the People’s Mujahideen, an exiled group that has leaked information on Iran’s nuclear program (Reuters/Yahoo!News, May 5). The sentence came shortly after last week’s arrest of former nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian, who is expected to be charged with nuclear-related espionage, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. A Web site affiliated with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cited an anonymous source as saying Mousavian provided information to Germany. No charges would be publicly announced until the investigation is complete and verdict is in, said a public prosecutor in Tehran (Frances Harrison, BBC, May 5). Back to top       Jordan Reports Sufficient Uranium for Nuclear Effort Jordan’s uranium holdings are sufficient to develop its planned nuclear energy program, the country’s energy chief said Saturday (see GSN, April 4). Khaled al-Shraydeh said Jordan has about 80,000 tons of uranium, while another 100,000 tons are contained within phosphate reserves, the Associated Press reported. Producing necessary legislation and personnel are two potential roadblocks to Jordan’s nuclear effort, al-Shraydeh told the official Petra news agency. Amman is looking to expand its energy sources, and has pledged that the nuclear program would have no weapons component.  There are questions on whether Jordan, and other Middle Eastern nations looking to develop nuclear facilities, possess adequate resources for such programs, AP reported (Associated Press I/Khaleej Times, May 5). Meanwhile, NATO is helping Kuwait determine its level of preparedness for a nuclear emergency, AP reported.  Officials from the alliance and the Kuwaiti government met yesterday in Kuwait City. NATO experts are expected during a workshop to provide some advice regarding Kuwaiti contingency plans, and to submit more in-depth reports at a later date on possible improvements. There is concern in Kuwait regarding possible mishaps at the nuclear program in nearby Iran, along with the possible fallout of the standoff between Tehran and the United Nations. “We hope for joint exercises with (NATO) to raise the efficiency of our plans for dealing with radiation to the standard … of the member states of the alliance,” Sheik Thamer Al Ali Al Sabah, deputy chief of the National Security Agency, told the Kuwait News Agency (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, May 6). Back to top

Retrial Ordered in Jordan Chemical Plot A Jordanian court has overturned the convictions of nine men suspected of plotting to use chemical weapons in a series of attacks in the capital city of Amman, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Feb. 15, 2006). The suspects are expected to be tried again, at an unknown date, according to defense attorney Mohammad Mehyar. “We are very happy with the decision taken by the Cassation Court,” he told AFP. The Court of Cassation said it rejected the February 2006 decision of the State Security Court because the prosecutor who interrogated the suspects “was one of their targets when they plotted their attacks,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. “This violates an article of the Jordanian penal code which states that a person should not be an opponent and at the same time a judge or part of the investigation process,” the court said (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, May 7). The defendants were convicted of planning strikes on the U.S. Embassy in Amman, the Jordanian intelligence service headquarters and other locations.  Authorities said ringleader Azmi al-Jayousi and four other suspects were arrested before they could carry out the attacks.  Four additional defendants were tried in absentia, including the subsequently killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of al-Qaeda in Iraq (see GSN, June 8, 2006; Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 7). Back to top       Former Iraqi Defense Minister Says He Received No Orders to Use Chemical Weapons Former Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai testified at trial yesterday that he was never ordered to use chemical weapons during the Hussein regime’s 1980s campaign against the country’s Kurdish population, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 6). “I did not receive any order asking me to use chemical weapons, but if so I would have implemented it.  I did not receive any chemical-related weapons,” said al-Tai, who led the Iraqi Army 1st Corps during the Anfal campaign that prosecutors said killed 180,000 Kurds.  Chemical agents are alleged to have been used repeatedly during the operation, killing 5,000 people in a 1988 attack on the village of Halabja (see GSN, March 19). Al-Tai and five other former senior Iraqi officials are being tried for orchestrating the Anfal campaign.  Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was also being tried prior to his execution following an earlier conviction (see GSN, Jan. 3). The six remaining defendants could also face execution if convicted. Lead prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon displayed a letter in which al-Tai’s superiors requested that he use “special ammunition (chemical weapons) against enemy poison,” AP reported (Sameer Yacoub, Associated Press/North County Times, May 6). Back to top       VX Waste More Dangerous Than Claimed, Groups Say Groups opposed to incinerating VX disposal waste in Texas have claimed that the material is more dangerous than acknowledged by the U.S. Army, the Beaumont Enterprise reported Friday (see GSN, May 1). The Army is paying Veolia Environmental Services in Port Arthur $48 million to eliminate 1.8 million gallons of hydrolysate wastewater produced by chemical agent neutralization at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana. That amount is “significantly” higher than standard payments for eliminating caustic waste, the Sierra Club and other organizations said Thursday in a new notice of intent to sue to block the program. “This suggests that the Army knows that the (material) contains the higher levels of VX and (other toxins) … and is not simply a caustic waste,” according to the document. A new environmental impact assessment is warranted, given the amount of money in the contract, the groups said. The study “would be expected to show that a number of available alternative treatment methods could be used to effectively treat the (wastewater) and at considerably less cost,” according to the notice. “The Army’s 2002 EA (environmental assessment) does not discuss or analyze the risk of international attack or hijacking of (material) shipments, including the intentional and malicious addition of large quantities of acid to allow the reconstitution of VX,” it adds. A lawsuit and injunction request to halt waste shipments are expected to be filed in a matter of days in Indiana, according to Craig Williams, head of the Chemical Weapons Working Group. The Army has argued that transporting and incinerating the wastewater is safe.  The contract amount is related to the high sodium content of the hydrolysate, which requires special handling to prevent damage to the incineration kiln, Veolia environmental and health safety manager Daniel Duncan told the Enterprise. “We’ve developed a mechanism to eliminate that occurrence, but there is some extra handling and pretreatment involved in that process that does cost extra money, time and effort,” Duncan said.  He said the high amount of sodium in the waste is intentional and prevents any concentration of VX (Mike Smith, Beaumont Enterprise/Chemical Weapons Working Group, May 4). Back to top

U.S. Ready for Russian Talks on Missile Defense Cabinet-level U.S. officials are prepared to meet with their Russian counterparts to discuss the Bush administration’s plans to deploy missile defenses in Eastern Europe, a senior U.S. official said Friday (see GSN, May 1). No date has been set for the talks, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried, but meetings of U.S. and Russian foreign and defense ministers could convene in the fall. U.S. plans to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland have drawn fire from Russia, which recently announced it would respond to those plans by suspending its participation in a major European conventional arms treaty (Reuters/Moscow Times, May 7). Back to top

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