International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei is expected to report little progress in learning about alleged Iranian nuclear-weapon studies (Axel Schmidt/Getty Images). Iran Stymies Nuclear Probe The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to report this month that Iran has conceded no information about alleged nuclear-weapon studies despite evidence of past research, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, May 20). The United States and other Western powers disclosed the evidence to the U.N. nuclear watchdog to back their doubts about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  Tehran defends its nuclear program as purely civilian...Full Story

North Korea Ready to Raze Cooling Tower, South Says North Korea plans to follow its submission of a long-awaited nuclear declaration by destroying the reactor cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear site, the Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday (see GSN, May 20)...Full Story

India to Wait for Domestic Support Before Implementing U.S. Nuclear Deal, Minister Says Indian leaders will not implement a bilateral nuclear trade deal with the United States without the backing of all the ruling coalition’s political supporters, a senior official said yesterday (see GSN, May 20)...Full Story

	Wednesday, May 21, 2008

U.S. Translator Sentenced for Taking Documents A former U.S. translator received an 11-year prison sentence Monday for taking classified military documents while in Iraq, the New York Sun reported (see GSN, Feb. 7). Authorities in 2005 seized papers from the Brooklyn apartment of Noureddine Malki, 48, who served three tours as a U.S. Army translator.  The documents included maps of troop transport routes in Iraq and lists of suspected WMD stockpile sites. Malki pleaded guilty in 2007 to unauthorized possession of documents related to the national defense.  The documents came home with him after he inadvertently packed them while leaving Iraq following one tour, Malki said yesterday.  He said he meant no harm and argued that he was being treated “hard” because he is a Muslim originally from Morocco. “I love this country just as I love myself,” said Malki, who has lived in the United States since 1988.  “I will never ever bite the hand of the person that feeds me.  The United States is the person who feeds me.  I made an honest mistake.  I overlooked the return of the classified material.” Some of the material could have ended up in enemy hands, according to federal prosecutor John Buretta.  After returning home, Malki stayed in contact by telephone and e-mail with Iraqis, some of whom have been linked to insurgents, the Sun reported.  He was also suspected of leaving U.S. bases in Iraq without permission and spent a seemingly inordinate amount of time with a questionable Iraqi source. Malki’s computer held pictures of dead Muslims and other material suggesting he might have thoughts of harming the United States, Buretta said.  Malki described himself as a collector. The 11-year sentence was near the minimum suggested under sentencing guidelines, the Sun reported. “There is a certain amount of bizarreness about this case,” said U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman.  He said he was “not 100 percent sure if we are dealing with a spy or someone who has other problems” (Joseph Goldstein, New York Sun, May 20). Back to top

Iran Stymies Nuclear Probe The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to report this month that Iran has conceded no information about alleged nuclear-weapon studies despite evidence of past research, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, May 20). The United States and other Western powers disclosed the evidence to the U.N. nuclear watchdog to back their doubts about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  Tehran defends its nuclear program as purely civilian. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei last month suggested an IAEA probe of Iran’s nuclear intentions was making progress when Tehran said it would address the evidence the agency had collected.  However, Iranian officials have rejected the alleged nuclear research evidence as forgeries, barred IAEA officials from investigating the assertion and refused to further discuss the issue, two diplomats told AP. When IAEA safeguards chief Olli Heinonen detailed much of the intelligence this February in a closed presentation to the agency’s 35-nation governing board, he noted that the design of a model missile re-entry vehicle in one Iranian video strongly suggests it was intended to accommodate a nuclear warhead, meeting attendees said. ElBaradei reaffirmed Monday that IAEA officials “haven’t seen indications or any concrete evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon.”  However, senior analysts at the agency believe that the Western intelligence builds a strong case that Iran has engaged in a clandestine nuclear weapons program, one high-level diplomat told AP. ElBaradei’s upcoming report to the IAEA governing board is expected to state that Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.  However, he is also expected to note that Iran has not significantly expanded the program despite Iranian plans to triple its size, said one of the diplomats who provided details on the report. The enrichment program continues to experience technical glitches that have hindered its efficiency, according to the diplomat and other sources familiar with the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s Iran probe. The diplomat also suggested that Iran might be delaying any large installation of enrichment centrifuges in order to minimize hostility from the next U.S. president, set to take office in January (George Jahn, Associated Press I/Google News, May 20). Meanwhile, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in a report yesterday that Iran’s nuclear program could set the stage for states throughout the Middle East to potentially pursue nuclear weapons programs, AP reported. From February 2006 to January 2007, at least 13 nations in the region announced new nuclear energy programs or reinforced existing programs, the report notes.  It added that most new reactors planned in Gulf states remain a decade or more from realization. “If Tehran’s nuclear program is unchecked, there is reason for concern that it could in time prompt a regional cascade of proliferation among Iran’s neighbors,” the report says, noting that reasons for pursuing the programs still remain mixed.  “Over time, Iran’s program could become a powerful proliferation driver, building on regional rivalry, security concerns and one-upmanship.” The report suggests that the predominantly Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia would likely seek out nuclear weapons if Iran, its Shiite rival, acquires them. The report largely writes off any threat of nuclear development posed by Syria, despite an Israeli air strike in the country last September that allegedly targeted an incomplete reactor site.  The report adds that Syria has no compelling reason to build nuclear weapons when it is already known to have a chemical weapons stockpile. It would be difficult, but not impossible, to develop a nuclear weapon using resources from a civilian nuclear program monitored by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the report says (Raphael Satter, Associated Press II/Google News, May 20). In Washington, the Bush administration yesterday dismissed a Jerusalem Post report that U.S. officials hoped to launch military strikes on Iran.  White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the report is “not worth the paper it’s written on” and that Bush hopes to resolve the Iranian nuclear impasse through diplomacy (Robin Wright, Washington Post, May 21). A U.S. Senate panel yesterday questioned Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the Bush administration’s terms for engaging Iran, the New York Times reported. “We have seen the president’s comment about appeasement of terrorists, but if we do not have dialogue with Iran, at least in one man’s opinion, we’re missing a great opportunity to avoid a future conflict,” said Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). Gates argued that diplomacy alone could not end the standoff with the existing leadership in Tehran. “The key here is developing leverage, either through economic or diplomatic or military pressures on the Iranian government, so that they believe they must have talks with the United States,” he said (Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, May 21). Elsewhere, Iran has reported receiving new assurances that Russia would not postpone completion of the Bushehr nuclear power plant past its current deadline this year, United Press International reported yesterday. Russian nuclear energy chief Sergei Kiriyenko said his department and the state-run Russian contractor Atomstroiexport do not plan on delaying the project (United Press International, May 20). In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has recommended imposing a naval blockade on Iran in a new attempt to squeeze nuclear concessions from the nation, Reuters reported today. Olmert made the suggestion in talks with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), also saying that “the present economic sanctions [against Iran] have exhausted themselves” (Reuters/Washington Post, May 21). Back to top       North Korea Ready to Raze Cooling Tower, South Says North Korea plans to follow its submission of a long-awaited nuclear declaration by destroying the reactor cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear site, the Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday (see GSN, May 20). Pyongyang would begin dismantling its nuclear infrastructure with the demolition, said Kim Sook, Seoul’s top envoy to the six-nation negotiations on North Korea’s atomic activities.  “It has the symbolic meaning of giving impetus to the denuclearization process,” Kim said during a trip to Washington, where he met with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts. North Korea last year agreed to provide an accounting of its nuclear programs and to ultimately eliminate them in exchange for economic, diplomatic and security benefits from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. The agreement has been held up this year by a dispute over the declaration.  Washington said Pyongyang was unwilling to address the full scope of its activities, but the Bush administration has reportedly settled for a deal under which North Korea would detail its plutonium work and “acknowledge” U.S. suspicions about uranium enrichment and nuclear proliferation activities. U.S. officials received significant information on the coming declaration during two recent visits to Pyongyang, Kim said.  They left with seven boxes of documents on operations at Yongbyon during the last trip. “We received a detailed briefing on the declaration,” Kim said of his meeting in Washington. Destruction of the cooling tower should occur not long after the declaration is released and before diplomats meet for the next full round of negotiations, Kim said. That should occur alongside Bush administration moves to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.  Pyongyang has demanded to be taken off the list in exchange for cooperating on the declaration. North Korea has also been receiving energy aid as part of the deal.  All participating nations but Japan “have delivered 310,000 tons of heavy fuel oil so far,” Kim said.  “We still have 690,000 tons remaining.” Tokyo has refused to aid North Korea until the regime resolves the issue of its past abduction of Japanese citizens, Yonhap reported.  Negotiating nations hope to finish the fuel deliveries this year. “There is still time and more scheduled deliveries left for Japan to take part in,” Kim said (Yonhap News Agency, May 20). Top negotiators are likely to meet again in mid-June, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said today. “We will spare no effort to induce North Korea to complete the declaration of its nuclear programs,” he said (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 21). Back to top       India to Wait for Domestic Support Before Implementing U.S. Nuclear Deal, Minister Says Indian leaders will not implement a bilateral nuclear trade deal with the United States without the backing of all the ruling coalition’s political supporters, a senior official said yesterday (see GSN, May 20). The tentative  agreement to purchase U.S. nuclear technology and materials has faced opposition from key supporters of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.  Singh has felt pressure from the critics, who have threatened to withdraw their support if he advances the deal, and from Washington, which has warned that too many delays could endanger the agreement as President George W. Bush’s term comes to an end in January. Despite the U.S. pressure, Singh would not move without domestic support, said Union Minister of State for Commerce Ashwani Kumar.  The opposition to the deal was “incomprehensible,” he said, as “in my personal opinion, this is the best negotiated deal.” “Whether it will happen or not, I can’t say.  I hope that the government interlocutors will be able to persuade our allies,” he added (Hasan Suroor, The Hindu, May 21). Back to top       Switzerland Destroyed Nuclear Smuggling Papers Switzerland destroyed documents in November that were related to the case of three Swiss engineers who allegedly help supply equipment to Libya’s nuclear-weapon program, Swissinfo reported yesterday (see GSN, May 26, 2006). Friedrich Tinner was detained about four years ago with his two sons, Urs and Marco, on suspicion that they had aided the smuggling ring once run by former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.  One of the men remains in confinement as authorities investigate the case. There have been rumors that the United States asked Switzerland to destroy the documents to suppress evidence that the three men had worked with the CIA, according to Swissinfo. The shredding of the papers, confirmed by the head of a Swiss parliamentary control committee, could undermine the investigation of the case while eliminating evidence potentially useful for the defendants (Swissinfo, May 20). Back to top       Security Fixed at Livermore, U.S. Official Says The U.S. Energy Department has corrected security weaknesses recently discovered during a mock terrorist attack on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, a senior official said yesterday (see GSN, May 13). Security forces during the April exercise failed to prevent the “terrorists” from entering the facility, seizing some simulated fissile materials, and retaining them long enough to use them in an unspecified type of explosion. The drill was intended to “overstress and overtest” the security teams, said Thomas D’Agostino, head of the department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration “In the end analysis, we failed to realize how important it actually is to do a lot more training exercises, to get people putting on all the equipment and going through their exercises,” he told the Associated Press. “We want to know where we’re weak,” he added.  “In this case we found that we were weak in some areas, and we aggressively took action on them.” Since the exercise, security personnel have been added at the laboratory and daily security training has begun, AP reported.   Training would be increased at other nuclear laboratories as well, D’Agostino said (Scott Lindlaw, Associated Press/Google News, May 21). Back to top

U.S. Certifies Anthrax Treatment for Children The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month approved the antibiotic levofloxacin to treat children infected with inhaled anthrax, the Center for Infectious Disease and Policy reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 22, 2007). The antibiotic, produced by the U.S. pharmaceutical firm Ortho-McNeil under the name Levaquin, has not been endorsed for countering any infection in children other than anthrax. The agency cleared the treatment for use in children 6 months and older in a letter issued earlier this month.  Adults infected with anthrax were cleared in 2004 to receive the treatment. In April’s Emerging Infectious Diseases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named ciprofloxacin and doxycycline as the anthrax treatments of choice, a consensus reached at a 2006 meeting on medical guidance for handling anthrax in individuals and as a public health threat. The report recommends levofloxacin as a secondary anthrax treatment, “to be reserved for instances where medical issues may call for its use,” because sufficient safety data has not been collected on the drug over more than 28 days of use. CDC experts also recommended amoxicillin for treating children infected with anthrax strains that are susceptible to penicillin-type antibiotics (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy release, May 20). Back to top

Japanese Lawmakers Enact Space Defense Law Japanese lawmakers today enacted a law allowing the country to conduct defense-oriented space activities within the boundaries of its pacifist constitution, the Associated Press reported. Passed by the Japanese parliament’s upper house in a landslide vote, the law ends Japan’s 1969 prohibition of military work in outer space and paves the way for Japan to build more sophisticated reconnaissance satellites as well as possible space-based missile interceptors. The law stipulates that Japan’s military space programs must “contribute to establish a safe society, remove various threats to life of the people and ensure peace and safety of international society, as well as the national security of our country” (Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press/Google News, May 21). Back to top

Man Carries Explosives Into Swedish Nuclear Plant Swedish authorities today detained a man for entering the country’s Oskarshamn nuclear power plant while carrying an explosive substance, Reuters reported. Police were informed of the incident in southeastern Sweden at about 8 a.m. local time, according to police spokesman Sven-Erik Karlsson. "They told us a welder who was going to perform a job there had been stopped in a random security check.  He had been carrying small amounts of the highly explosive material TATP," Karlsson said, referring to triacetone triperoxide, a substance more explosive than dynamite that Sweden has not scheduled on its list of controlled materials. "The man has been brought to Kalmar for interrogation," the spokesman said.  "The substance has been sealed off at the plant with a 300-meter perimeter." Jens Schreiber, spokesman for the Swedish energy agency E.ON, said a scanner had detected explosives in the bag of a contractor entering the facility, but a closer inspection revealed no threats. "This has nothing to do with a bomb threat or attack," Schreiber said (Anna Ringstrom, Reuters/Globe and Mail, May 21). Back to top       China Secures Radioactive Material Following Quake China has recovered or secured 32 radioactive sources that were buried by last week’s major earthquake, the Associated Press reported today.  The materials most likely came from civilian facilities such as hospitals and factories, but Chinese officials have not provided full details on the recovery efforts (see GSN, May 19). Thirty sources have been recovered and the remaining two have been located and secured pending excavation, AP reported. One U.S. expert speculated that military nuclear sites in the impacted region must also have incurred some damage. “I find it hard to believe, given the widespread destruction in this region, that the military plants that have nuclear materials somehow escaped (the disaster’s) reach,” said Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists (Anita Chang, Associated Press/Google News, May 21). Back to top

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

© Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.