The FBI has formally cleared ex-U.S. Army researcher Steven Hatfill of any involvement in the 2001 anthrax mailings. The Justice Department said it was preparing an indictment against scientist Bruce Ivins at the time of his suicide last month (Mike Theiler/Getty Images). U.S. Clears Hatfill in Anthrax Mailings The U.S. Justice Department on Friday formally cleared former U.S. Army biological defense researcher Steven Hatfill of suspicion in connection to the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, June 30). "We have concluded, based on lab access records, witness accounts, and other information, that Dr. Hatfill did not have access to the particular anthrax used in the attacks, and that he was not involved in the anthrax mailings," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor wrote in a letter to Hatfill’s attorney. Identified in 2002 as a “person of interest” in the case, Hatfill was subjected to thousands of hours of FBI scrutiny before the government began honing in on microbiologist Bruce Ivins early last year as the main suspect in the case (see GSN, Aug. 8).  Ivins committed suicide late last month as federal prosecutors were reportedly preparing to press charges against him.  ..Full Story

Syria Keeps IAEA Away From Suspected Nuclear Site Syria has rejected a request from international nuclear investigators to revisit a facility that U.S. intelligence officials have said was a budding nuclear reactor before Israel bombed the site last year, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, June 26)...Full Story

Western Nations to Pursue Unilateral Iran Penalties The United States and other Western powers are each preparing penalties against Iranian industries amid reluctance from China and Russia to impose new U.N. sanctions against the state, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, Aug. 8)...Full Story

	Monday, August 11, 2008

Expert’s Death Rolls Back al-Qaeda WMD Capability The reported death of an al-Qaeda chemical and biological-weapon specialist late last month would drastically undermine the organization’s ability to independently develop a weapon of mass destruction, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 4). Abu Khabab al-Masri, who died in a U.S. drone-launched missile attack in Pakistan, was known as a “mad scientist” who engineered chemical experiments in Afghanistan prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.  A video obtained by CNN in 2002 shows a group of dogs being killed by a chemical believed to be hydrogen cyanide while a person identified as al-Masri speaks in the background. Al-Masri also gave out biological and chemical-weapon assembly instructions starting in 1999, according to the United States, which had offered $5 million for his death or capture. "If he is out of the picture, al-Qaeda's weapons of mass destruction capability has been set back, which would make this one of the more effective strikes in recent years," said Arthur Keller, a former CIA case officer who headed efforts to track him down in 2006. “Al-Qaeda has no shortage of people adept with explosives, and I know that al-Masri promulgated training manuals for poisons," he said, "but I'm not sure how skilled any of al-Masri's proteges may be at synthesizing chemical weapons or toxins." Building chemical weapons is a difficult task, Keller said.  "You need both education and hands-on experience to produce decent-quality chemical weapons or toxins." There were no indicators that al-Masri was still involved in chemical weapons efforts after fleeing Afghanistan for Pakistan.  He was still believed to be providing training for al-Qaeda operatives, according to U.S. officials. The U.S. intelligence community had long considered al-Masri “frightening,” said Brian Glyn Williams, a University of Massachusetts Islamic history expert who recently completed a government WMD study. "From the U.S. government perspective, he was seen as a major threat.  His potential to develop primitive weapons of mass destruction was not taken lightly by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies," Williams said. RAND Corp. analyst Seth Jones said al-Qaeda could recover from the setback. "The death of Abu Khabab al-Masri has a short-term impact on al-Qaeda's operations by eliminating a competent senior leader," Jones said.  "Over the long run, however, al-Qaeda has demonstrated an ability to replace most of its leaders that have been captured or killed" (Kathy Gannon, Associated Press/Google News, Aug. 10). Back to top

Syria Keeps IAEA Away From Suspected Nuclear Site Syria has rejected a request from international nuclear investigators to revisit a facility that U.S. intelligence officials have said was a budding nuclear reactor before Israel bombed the site last year, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, June 26). Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency examined the razed site in June, months after the September 2007 attack.  The IAEA visit was spurred by the April release of U.S. briefing materials that appeared to detail that the bombed facility was a nearly completed nuclear reactor.  Officials said the reactor was designed to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons and was built with North Korean assistance (see GSN, April 25; Aji/Jahn, Associated Press/Google News, Aug. 9). While the IAEA inspectors said they gained some useful information in June, they had requested to return to the site near al-Kibar, but have been rebuffed, Reuters reported. “A memorandum of understanding was reached between Syria and the IAEA that stipulated a visit exclusively to the Kibar site and for one time only," said a statement from Syria’s Foreign Ministry.  “Syria has honored this and affirmed that if the agency had any queries after the visit it could present them to the Syrian side to answer.” The statement repeated earlier Syrian denials of any covert nuclear activity. “Syria did not work on setting up a nuclear reactor with the Korean Democratic Republic or any other country,” it said. The nuclear investigators are expected to issue a report on their investigation of Syria before the September meeting of the agency’s governing board, Reuters reported (Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Reuters, Aug. 9). The Unites States has circulated a letter to the 35-nation board expressing concern that Syria might seek to join the board and thus undermine the agency’s investigation, AP reported. “Syria's election to the board while under investigation for secretly ... building an undeclared nuclear reactor not suited for peaceful purposes would make a mockery” of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, said the note, as read to a reporter by a diplomat (Aji/Jahn, AP). Back to top       Western Nations to Pursue Unilateral Iran Penalties The United States and other Western powers are each preparing penalties against Iranian industries amid reluctance from China and Russia to impose new U.N. sanctions against the state, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, Aug. 8). The West has threatened to impose new penalties on Iran if it does not accept an offer of benefits for halting its uranium enrichment program, an effort that could produce fuel for a nuclear bomb.  Iran insists the program is strictly peaceful in nature. "There are areas of the Iranian economy that are vulnerable to targeted sanctions, whether they be in the LNG (liquefied natural gas) sector, investment in oil and gas sectors, imported refined products, reinsurance, (or) other financial areas," a high-level British official told journalists Friday.  Those are "areas we would look at, if we are looking to increase the pressure on the Iranian leadership," the source said, adding that France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and other nations are likely to impose such penalties. The official said the measures would ultimately accompany a fourth U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran that could be passed later this year as well as stricter European Union-Iranian trade regulations implemented Friday. The five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany could meet next month to begin negotiating the new resolution.  "It will be difficult, as it was last time, to actually agree the text of some tough sanctions in the Security Council," the official said. The United Kingdom said it has not given up on the six-nation strategy of offering Iran incentives for halting uranium enrichment while simultaneously threatening new penalties if Tehran refuses to do so (David Stringer, Associated Press I/International Herald Tribune, Aug. 8). Iran said yesterday it would continue its enrichment program despite the possibility of new economic penalties, Reuters reported. "Our stance would not change with sanctions or the threat of sanctions," Iranian state media quoted government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham as saying.  "It is important that our country is ready to insist on its rights under any conditions" (Reuters, Aug. 10). Elham was quoted as saying Iran is “ready to confront sanctions” over its uranium enrichment program (Associated Press II/Google News, Aug. 10). Iranian and EU negotiators decided in a telephone conversation today to continue discussing the nuclear impasse, Agence France-Presse reported. "The two sides agreed to continue negotiations in a constructive atmosphere," Iranian state television said, adding that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili “voiced satisfaction at the constructive trend of negotiations in Geneva and the contacts afterwards" (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Aug. 11). Iran on Friday described two days of discussions it held last week with International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards chief Olli Heinonen as “positive.” "Current developments as well as relations between Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and the IAEA were discussed in a positive atmosphere," Iranian Atomic Energy Organization deputy chief Mohammad Saeedi said, according to state media. The U.N. nuclear watchdog gave little information about the focus of the talks, but a source close to the agency said the discussion was intended to address remaining IAEA concerns in a probe of Iran’s nuclear ambitions (Agence France-Presse II/Google News, Aug. 8). Back to top       U.S. Offers Changes to Nuclear Trade Rules for India The United States has completed a draft revision of international trade rules to allow nuclear sales to India, and it has submitted the changes for consideration by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Hindu reported Friday (see GSN, Aug. 8). Indian officials reviewed the draft and were pleased to see that the text no longer included a suggestion that New Delhi someday accept international supervision over all of its nuclear facilities, according to the Hindu.  The draft was delivered Thursday to NSG chair Germany and the group is scheduled to begin formally reviewing the document on Aug. 21 in Vienna. Approval of the draft would allow India to purchase key nuclear materials and technology after being banned from such trade for more than 30 years.  New Delhi has agreed to accept international monitoring of the nation’s civilian nuclear activities. Some lawmakers in Washington, however, have urged NSG nations to ensure that any rules changes comply with U.S. nonproliferation measures, such as automatically ending nuclear sales if India conducts any nuclear tests (see GSN, Aug. 7; Sandeep Dikshit, The Hindu, Aug. 8). Back to top       North Korea Remains on Terror List The Bush administration did not appear set today to remove North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, a key reward sought by the Stalinist state as reward for its denuclearization efforts, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 7). President George W. Bush began the 45-day process in June after North Korea submitted a long-overdue declaration of its nuclear operations.  Today was the first day that Pyongyang could be taken off the list. However, administration officials in recent days have made it clear that removal was contingent upon North Korea agreeing to a program to verify its claims regarding the scope of its nuclear program. Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed that point during a telephone conversation. “I asked her, ‘as details on the verification have yet to be decided, can I take it that the delisting won’t happen today?’  And she said, ‘Yes, you can take it that way,’” Komura said. Dennis Wilder, the Asian affairs chief at the U.S. National Security Council, said yesterday it was “unlikely” that North Korea would come off the list today. The verification deal is another step in carrying out a 2007 deal in which North Korea agreed to full denuclearization in exchange for economic, diplomatic and security benefits from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.  The agreement followed years of talks and one nuclear test by Pyongyang.  To date, North Korea has halted operations at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, moved to disable three key facilities, issued the nuclear declaration and demolished a reactor cooling tower (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Aug. 11). Pyongyang has received part of the 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or related assistance promised last year by the other five nations. South Korea said that last week it shipped 600 tons of steel bars, United Press International reported.  Pyongyang has already received 124,000 tons of oil from Seoul, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry (United Press International, Aug. 8). South Koran President Lee Myung-bak and Chinese President Hu Jintao met Saturday in Beijing, where they agreed to press for a faster resolution of the North Korea nuclear issue, the Korea Times reported (Korea Times, Aug. 9). Meanwhile, Japan’s top negotiator to the six-nation negotiations, Akitaka Saiki, was expected to conduct talks in China with North Korean officials, AFP reported. Tokyo has largely withheld denuclearization rewards from Pyongyang while waiting for what it considers to be definite resolution regarding the issue of North Korean abductions of its citizens.  Pyongyang has generally said that all surviving abductees had been returned, but agreed in June to revisit the issue (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, Aug. 10). Back to top       Pakistani Govt. OK’d Proliferation, Khan’s Wife Says The wife of former top Pakistani nuclear scientist and proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan has accused the country’s president of blaming her husband for nuclear proliferation activities ordered by the government, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, July 23). Khan shipped uranium enrichment centrifuge components to North Korea in 2000 and carried out similar activities because the government told him to do so, Hendrina Khan told Der Spiegel, challenging Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s 2006 claim that the scientist completed such transfers without government knowledge. "It is too late for (the concerned government and Musharraf) to 'confess.’  The consequences for the country would be too drastic … especially from the Americans who have been supporting Musharraf through thick and thin," Hendrina Khan said. In his 2006 memoir, Musharraf wrote:  "On the basis of the thorough probe that we conducted in 2003-2004 … I can say with confidence that neither the Pakistan army nor any of the past governments of Pakistan was ever involved or had any knowledge of A.Q.'s proliferation activities.  The show was completely A.Q.'s" (United Press International, Aug. 10). Back to top

U.S. Clears Hatfill in Anthrax Mailings The U.S. Justice Department on Friday formally cleared former U.S. Army biological defense researcher Steven Hatfill of suspicion in connection to the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, June 30). "We have concluded, based on lab access records, witness accounts, and other information, that Dr. Hatfill did not have access to the particular anthrax used in the attacks, and that he was not involved in the anthrax mailings," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor wrote in a letter to Hatfill’s attorney. Identified in 2002 as a “person of interest” in the case, Hatfill was subjected to thousands of hours of FBI scrutiny before the government began honing in on microbiologist Bruce Ivins early last year as the main suspect in the case (see GSN, Aug. 8).  Ivins committed suicide late last month as federal prosecutors were reportedly preparing to press charges against him.  Hatfill sued the government for invasion of privacy and in June received a $5.85 million settlement from the Justice Department. Taylor noted that the government in 2002 had not yet developed forensic methods later used to link the genetic strain of the anthrax used in the attacks to a supply controlled by Ivins. U.S. legislators and legal specialists have urged the FBI to disclose when it ruled out Hatfill as a suspect and why the bureau did not reveal the timing when negotiating the government settlement.  The years-long focus on Hatfill prevented investigators from pursuing alternative leads, according to detractors of the federal probe. In case records released Wednesday, the government rebuffed previous assertions that the perpetrator of the attacks infused the anthrax powder with silicon dioxide to help it spread more effectively. The mailed anthrax contained only the element silicon “within the spores,” according to case information. Meanwhile, the Army on Friday said it would establish an expert panel to audit safety and security precautions at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, where Ivins worked and was believed to have acquired anthrax used in the mailings. Army Secretary Pete Geren plans to approach at least 12 civilian and military officials about joining the panel, according to an Army spokesman (Johnson/Warrick, Washington Post, Aug. 9). The team would examine the site’s overall security but not the errors of individuals, the Associated Press reported.  There is no set schedule for submission of reports, according to one Army spokesman. Ivins only lost his access to secured laboratory areas last September, after investigators had already searched his house.  Army officials said they would not release further details on attempts to limit his access to the Fort Detrick biodefense site (Lolita Baldor, Associated Press I/Google News, Aug. 8). In Washington, U.S. Representatives John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Friday they would direct a congressional inquiry to investigate how Ivins retained access to the site’s anthrax supplies for years after he began exhibiting signs of mental illness, the Los Angeles Times reported. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, in examining U.S. biodefense sites, has already identified past cases of accidental agent releases as well as inadequate training, security and management at Biosafety Level 3 and 4 facilities run by academic institutions and civilian government entities. Dingell, panel chairman, expressed concern in a statement that current security measures might not be screening the roughly 14,000 U.S. researchers trusted with biological-weapon agents for signs of mental instability. "I'm deeply troubled by the allegations raised about security at one of our nation's premier labs handling some of the deadliest germs in the world," he said.  "Our nation is at serious risk if one of our government's most prominent scientists could have a decade-long battle with mental illness without anyone noticing" (Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 9). Elsewhere, experts said the “microbial forensic” techniques developed in the anthrax mailing investigation could be refined for other uses, AP reported Friday. "Science is a wonderful thing but it is, at the end of the day, a tool," said Gigi Kwik Gronvall at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Biosecurity.  "The question is how that was used." As one example, microbial forensic techniques might eventually be used to identify where a person has walked by linking bacteria on that person’s shoes to agents in the dirt at a given site, AP reported. As Ivins’s death prevents scientists from learning whether such evidence can stand up in court, researchers are pressing the FBI to release full genetic data from its investigation to help determine the information’s reliability. The forensic method is "still a field very much in its infancy," said geneticist Claire Fraser-Liggett who previously worked at a laboratory that performed significant analysis work in the anthrax investigation.  "There was always the lingering question as to whether you would ever really be able to find differences that would be useful in terms of doing attribution.” The FBI compared the anthrax in the mailings to more than 1,000 strains, she said, “finding that you could really apply many of the same parallels with human forensics to microbial forensics” (Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press II/Google News, Aug. 8). Back to top       Ricin Was Decade Old, Admitted Owner Says The man at the center of the Las Vegas ricin incident said he made the toxin a decade ago and does not believe it contributed to the illness this year that sent him into a coma, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 5). “I made it,” Roger Von Bergendorff said in a jailhouse interview with AP.  He pleaded guilty last week in federal court to possession of a biological toxin and a weapons charge.  Under a plea deal, he is expected to spend three years and one month in prison, minus time already served in jail. Bergendorff said he produced a small amount of ricin in 1998 while living in San Diego, using castor beans from a plant in his yard.  He kept the material while moving around Nevada and Utah, but said he never planned to use it and none ever escaped containment. “Absolutely not.  Zero chance.  I had it triple-sealed,” Bergendorff said. He became ill in February while staying in a Las Vegas motel.  However, Bergendorff said the material was not the cause of his respiratory troubles that resulted in his hospitalization and a coma that lasted for about three weeks. “It was in a container in my safe and it hadn’t been touched.  There was no reason to touch it,” said the unemployed graphic designer, 57. Authorities believe the illness was linked to the ricin, but could not prove that because the toxin needs only a matter of days to dissipate within the body.  Bergendorff said the death of his older brother contributed to stress and sickness. His cousin, Utah resident Thomas Tholen, later found the ricin while clearing Bergendorff’s belongings from the room.  Tholen was charged with felony failing to report a crime about which he had knowledge.  He is expected to plead guilty today to a lesser charge.  Tholen said his troubles resulted from trying to help his cousin. “All the way through, that’s what I’ve done,” Tholen, 54, told AP.  “He was dying.  That’s what they told me.  He was basically living on charity.  The church had paid for his living situation.  My concern was just to help everybody else. “Every once in a while, something like this happens,” he said.  “It backfires and kicks you in the teeth” (Ken Ritter, Associated Press/Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 9). Back to top       Mississippi on Finalists’ List for Biodefense Lab The U.S. Homeland Security Department made a site in Mississippi one of the finalists to house a new $451 biological defense laboratory even though it rated lower in an evaluation than several locations that were eliminated from consideration, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, June 23). The ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which would approve funding for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, is from Mississippi.  The state is also home to the Democratic head of the House panel that conducts oversight for the agency.  Both lawmakers said they knew nothing of the system used to rank applicants for the laboratory. “Our congressional delegation doesn’t know about a scoring system,” Margaret McPhillips, a spokeswoman for Senator Thad Cochran, said in an e-mail to AP.  “Mississippi’s governor does not know of one.  DHS is in Mississippi right now for a site visit and just confirmed with us that there is no scoring system.” The selection process could be seen as another example of political interference in government matters during the Bush administration, critics said. “It is very suspicious,” said Irwin Goldman of the University of Wisconsin, which did not make the final cut.  “We wondered how everybody else did.  It’s interesting to know that we came out ahead of one that was short-listed.” Five locations remain under consideration for the new animal and human disease research laboratory — Flora, Miss.; Athens, Ga.; Manhattan, Kan.; Butner, N.C.; and San Antonio.  There is also the possibility that the facility could be built at the site of the laboratory it is intended to replace — the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York (see GSN, Aug. 24, 2007). Nine other sites in seven states — California, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin — did not make the cut despite receiving higher scores from experts appointed by the agency to review the applications. Those experts worried that the Mississippi location did not have a ready pool of necessary disease research personnel and was not near any operational biodefense research programs.  However, Homeland Security Undersecretary Jay Cohen argued in a July 2007 internal document that the Mississippi site would attract the necessary researchers:  “When built, they come.” “It appears that the undersecretary responsible for this program may have corrupted the site selection process by putting his thumb on the scale in favor of a particular site and its contractor, in violation of his own rules and over the objections of his own advisers,” said Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.).  “This raises the question of whether DHS is interested in bioresearch or just shameless empire building.” Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said that committee reviews within the agency “did not appropriately consider the unique contributions certain consortia committed to make in their proposals.”  Mississippi expressed its intention to collaborate with DHS contractor Battelle Memorial Institute, which presently operates laboratories for the Energy and Homeland Security departments (Larry Margasak, Associated Press/Washington Post, Aug. 11). Back to top

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