Nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan has reportedly rejected certain U.S. terms for verifying North Korea’s denuclearization (Teh Eng-Koon/Getty Images). North Korea Rejects Nuclear Verification Demands North Korea has rejected components of a U.S. plan to verify the Stalinist state’s claims regarding its nuclear programs, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported today (see GSN, Aug. 12). An agreed verification plan would be the next step in carrying out the 2007 deal in which Pyongyang pledged to give up its nuclear program in exchange for economic, security and diplomatic benefits.  North Korea would likely achieve its goal of being removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism after accepting a plan, but Washington says any program must cover the regime’s suspected uranium enrichment and nuclear proliferation operations alongside its known plutonium program...Full Story

Al-Qaeda Grows in Strength, U.S. Says Al-Qaeda’s ability to strike the United States has grown in the past year and the organization has enlisted and prepared “dozens” of operatives to infiltrate Western nations to conduct possible attacks, a high-level U.S. terrorism expert said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 11)...Full Story

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Five Iranian Entities The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday announced new restrictions on business with five Iranian groups said to be connected to the Middle Eastern state’s nuclear and missile activities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 12)...Full Story

	Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Al-Qaeda Grows in Strength, U.S. Says Al-Qaeda’s ability to strike the United States has grown in the past year and the organization has enlisted and prepared “dozens” of operatives to infiltrate Western nations to conduct possible attacks, a high-level U.S. terrorism expert said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 11). In addition, the terror group’s improving relationship with tribal militants in western Pakistan has made the region “a stronger, more comfortable safe haven than it was for them a year ago,” National Intelligence Officer Ted Gistaro said during a speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The commentary by Gistaro, who oversees all U.S. terrorism intelligence, marks the highest-level intelligence analysis of al-Qaeda since the completion of a National Intelligence Estimate on the group more than a year ago, the New York Times reported (see GSN, July 26, 2007). The terrorist network has “replenished its bench” with members drawn from northern Africa and western Asia, gradually replacing senior members traditionally from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The United States has not acquired indications of any “specific, credible plots” for attacks here, but al-Qaeda might strike close to the U.S. presidential election or inauguration to disrupt the transition between administrations. “There is no intelligence that suggests to me that al-Qaeda has a preferred candidate in our upcoming election,” he said (Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, Aug. 13). Meanwhile, the United States has seized communications between al-Qaeda operatives and a list of possible targets from a U.S.-educated Pakistani woman detained last month in Afghanistan, the New York Post reported (see GSN, Aug. 5). Aafia Siddiqui, 36, was found with evidence of a potential plan to attack the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York and a list identifying the Statue of Liberty and Times Square as other possible targets, according to a government official with knowledge of the “treasure trove” of findings. "She's really warped, but she's the real deal," the official said, adding that Siddiqui was a senior al-Qaeda member. She is "brilliant (but) out of her mind,” the source said.  “Her hatred for the U.S. is visceral.  She drank the Kool-Aid.  She's a Pakistani religious zealot who hates America." She was also carrying electronically stored data that contained e-mail messages between "what she described as 'units' and what we would call 'cells,'" one source told ABC. "This is a major haul," former CIA agent John Kiriakou said.  "We knew that she had been planning, or at least involved in the planning, of a wide variety of different operations, whether they involved weapons of mass destruction or research into chemical or biological weapons, whether it was a possible attempt on the life of the president." Officials added that she was carrying extensive details on chemical, biological and radiological weapons, and her hair, saliva and fingernails are being examined for WMD ingredient traces (Murray Weiss, New York Post, Aug. 13). Back to top

WMD Commission Meets European Officials A U.S. panel studying ways to stop terrorist WMD attacks began a visit to Europe yesterday to consult with allies and international institutions, the group announced (see GSN, July 29). The nine-member Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, created by the U.S. Congress, is expected to produce a report this fall. Panel members are scheduled to meet this week with British officials in London before traveling to Vienna to meet with representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. “We are continually reminded that the security of America and the security of the world are inextricably linked,” said commission Chairman Bob Graham, the former Democratic senator from Florida. “We must work together to keep dangerous materials out of the hands of terrorists,” added Vice Chairman, Jim Talent, a former Republican senator from Missouri.  “We look forward to meeting with our closest international partners, not only to discuss our successes, but also to examine continuing challenges” (Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism release, Aug. 12). Back to top

North Korea Rejects Nuclear Verification Demands North Korea has rejected components of a U.S. plan to verify the Stalinist state’s claims regarding its nuclear programs, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported today (see GSN, Aug. 12). An agreed verification plan would be the next step in carrying out the 2007 deal in which Pyongyang pledged to give up its nuclear program in exchange for economic, security and diplomatic benefits.  North Korea would likely achieve its goal of being removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism after accepting a plan, but Washington says any program must cover the regime’s suspected uranium enrichment and nuclear proliferation operations alongside its known plutonium program. The draft verification plan submitted last month also called for full access by inspectors to all North Korean nuclear sites. Top North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan dismissed the U.S. plan and demanded that his nation be considered a nuclear power, one source told Yomiuri.  Kim’s’ remarks reportedly angered U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, Washington’s top envoy to the negotiations that also involve China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. North Korea appears to be playing a waiting game with the Bush administration, which leaves office in January.  The administration so far has maintained a hard line on verification, but might not be able to hold that position as its time runs out. Pyongyang, meanwhile, wants to keep its nuclear weapons and not have them subject to inspection, according to one former U.S. official.  It might use delays to disablement of plants at the Yongbyon nuclear complex to push Washington to amend its verification requirements, sources said (Takeo Miyazaki, Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 13). Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks, is scheduled to leave for Beijing today for talks with Chinese officials on the verification issue, the Associated Press reported.  There were no indications that he would meet with North Korean officials before closing the trip this weekend (Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Aug. 12). Elsewhere, North Korea and Japan today agreed on a new investigation of Pyongyang’s abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, AP reported. The Stalinist state in 2002 returned five abductees and said that eight others had died.  Tokyo has not accepted that claim and has withheld support from Pyongyang during the six-nation nuclear process. The investigation is set to begin quickly and end this fall, AP reported following two days of talks in China between Japanese and North Korean officials.  The Japanese Foreign Ministry said the deal requires North Korea to keep Japan updated on the investigation, to provide Tokyo with complete access to locations, people and records, and finally to send any survivors home. In return, Japan would eliminate some of the sanctions it has imposed on North Korea (Jay Alabaster, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 13). Back to top       U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Five Iranian Entities The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday announced new restrictions on business with five Iranian groups said to be connected to the Middle Eastern state’s nuclear and missile activities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 12). The new sanctions were the latest in a series of U.S. moves aimed at entities Washington believes are supporting work aimed at developing nuclear weapons.  Iran insists its nuclear program is intended only to produce energy for civilian use. "Responsible financial institutions and businesses worldwide are taking steps to avoid doing business with Iranian nuclear and missile entities, as well as with the front companies and cut-outs the Iranian regime uses to disguise its activities," said Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey.  "These five nuclear and missile entities have been used by Iran to hide its illicit conduct and further its dangerous nuclear ambitions” (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, Aug. 12). The sanctioned groups include the Nuclear Research Center for Agriculture and Medicine, a branch of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization; the Isfahan National Fuel Research and Production Center, an AEO branch that Washington linked to uranium enrichment activities; Jabbar Ibn Hayan, an AEO laboratory connected to fuel-cycle work; and the Safety Equipment Procurement and Joza Industrial companies, which were identified as front firms for Iran’s Aerospace Industry Organization that are involved in ballistic missile efforts (U.S. State Department release, Aug. 12). Meanwhile, Israel today said the United States is currently supporting no potential strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, AFP reported. "The Americans are not ready to allow us to attack Iran," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli army radio.  "Our position is that no option is to be taken off the table but in the meantime we have to make diplomatic progress. "The only thing to do is to continue to act in the field of intelligence and to strengthen economic sanctions against the government of (President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad," he said. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently reported that U.S. officials had rejected an Israeli request for military gear that suggested the country was in “advanced stages” of planning a strike on Iran.  Washington urged against an attack, contending it would damage U.S. interests, and requested a warning if Jerusalem decided to proceed with a strike, according to the report. Barak did not address the report, but said that U.S. opposition to a strike was “well known” (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Aug. 13). Back to top       Pull HEU From Civilian Sites, N.Y. Politicians Say The federal government should prohibit the use of highly enriched uranium at civilian research facilities in the United States, New York’s attorney general and a U.S. lawmaker from the state said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 12). There are now seven civilian sites that work with the nuclear-weapon-usable material, four of which plan to end the practice, the Associated Press reported.  The other three sites are not in New York state, but terrorists might conduct a strike on New York City if they could acquire the uranium, according to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Representative Peter King (R). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission could “add another layer of protection” against nuclear terrorism by issuing the prohibition, King said.  It is “absurd” that the commission “has continued to drag its feet” on making the move, Cuomo said. Other material would suit the needs of civilian researchers, Cuomo and King said.  Such restrictions within the United States would encourage other nations to increase nuclear security measures, thus further reducing the potential for terrorists to acquire weapons material, they said. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission mandated that research reactors undergo security boosts in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said agency spokesman Neil Sheehan.  “No credible sabotage or theft scenario would produce significant radiological consequences to the public health and safety,” he said. Sheehan noted that the agency has backed the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s program to strip civilian research facilities of highly enriched uranium (Devlin Barrett, Associated Press/WCBSTV.com, Aug. 12). Back to top       Study of U.S. Nuclear Handling Nears Completion By Katherine McIntire Peters Government Executive WASHINGTON — A panel of former U.S. Defense Department executives and national security specialists reviewing nuclear weapons management will make recommendations soon to Defense Secretary Robert Gates regarding Air Force failures in nuclear stewardship (see GSN, June 13). The panel's full report covering all the military services is expected later this fall. In June, Gates tapped former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, who served in the Nixon and Ford administrations, to lead the Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Management, following an internal investigation into Air Force lapses that led pilots to fly nuclear weapons unknowingly from North Dakota to Louisiana last August and accidentally ship ballistic missile fuses to Taiwan in 2006, a mistake that was discovered only earlier this year. As a result of that initial Defense Department investigation, Gates fired the Air Force's top civilian and military leaders, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley, explaining in a June 5 press briefing that "the focus of the Air Force leadership has drifted with respect to perhaps its most sensitive mission." The investigation that led to the firings was conducted by Adm. Kirkland Donald, director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion and the senior military official responsible for nuclear weapons safety (see GSN, June 19).  According to Gates, Donald identified "a substantial number of Air Force general officers and colonels potentially subject to disciplinary measures, ranging from removal from command to letters of reprimand." One senior Air Force official told Government Executive that as many as 20 officers could be disciplined as a result of the lapses. "Individuals in command and leadership positions not only fell short in terms of specific actions, they failed to recognize systemic problems, to address those problems, or where, beyond their authority to act, to call the attention of superiors to those problems.  Each had the leadership responsibility to identify and correct or flag for others the structural, procedural and performance deficiencies identified in just a few weeks by Adm. Donald," Gates said. Gates said he would ask the Schlesinger task force, the members of which he named on June 12, to consider the findings and recommendations of the Donald investigation and to suggest changes in Air Force policies, procedures and organization within 60 days.  A broader Defense-wide review by the task force was to be completed in 120 days. On Monday, Defense spokesman Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Vician said the task force still was working on the first stage of its review regarding service matters. The 60-day time frame did not specify work days or calendar days, he said.  The assessment and recommendations will be released at Gates' discretion after he is briefed, Vician said. Gates made clear that the roots of Air Force stewardship failures have been in the making for more than a decade.  "Years ago the career path for Air Force personnel in the nuclear field was well-established and prestigious.  However, the overall mission focus of the Air Force has shifted away from this nuclear mission, making it difficult to retain sufficient expertise," he said, noting that the service has not compensated for the diminished expertise through training and active career management. Action was required on two fronts, Gates said:  "First, fixing the structural, procedural and cultural problems; and second, ensuring accountability."  He has made accountability a central theme of his leadership. Gates said he would ask the new Air Force secretary and chief of staff, once confirmed, "to evaluate each of the individuals identified by Adm. Donald as bearing responsibility in the recent incidents and systemic problems, to determine whether and what disciplinary measures are warranted, and whether or not they can be part of the solution to the problems identified by the investigation" (see related GSN story, today). The Senate confirmed Gen. Norton Schwartz as chief of staff on July 31, but Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) put a hold on the nomination of Michael Donley to become Air Force secretary.  Cantwell told Gates in a letter she was doing this in part because she was frustrated with the Air Force's handling of a $35 billion contract to buy new refueling tankers. Boeing Co., based in Washington state, lost a bid for the deal earlier this year when the Air Force awarded the contract to a team led by Northrop Grumman Corp. and the European aerospace firm EADS.  After a critical review of the contracting process by the Government Accountability Office, the contract was reopened and Gates put Defense in charge of the new bidding process instead of the Air Force. Back to top       U.S. Air Force Promises Better Nuclear Security The U.S. Air Force’s new top officer vowed yesterday to “work with a vengeance” to improve the handling of nuclear weapons, a priority highlighted by security lapses that triggered the recent firing of the service’s two most senior officials (see GSN, July 22). Gen. Norton Schwartz was sworn in as Air Force chief of staff yesterday, replacing Gen. Michael Moseley who resigned under pressure in June.  The upheaval was initiated after Air Force personnel last year lost track of six nuclear-armed cruise missiles (see GSN, April 4) and erroneously shipped nuclear missile fuse technology to Taiwan in 2006 (see GSN, March 25).  Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne was also forced to resign (see GSN, July 15), but his designated successor Michael Donley has not yet received U.S. Senate confirmation. “[The] bottom line is we lost focus,” Schwartz told reporters at a briefing yesterday.  “We did, and that focus is coming back.” He promised to restore high standards among Air Force nuclear crews (see related GSN story, today). “It is a mission where anything less than perfection is not acceptable and that is the standard.  That certainly is the standard of the folks that brought that to us through the years.  And we will return to that standard,” he said. Schwartz and Donley have won a promise from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to reverse planned cuts to the numbers of Air Force personnel, and some of the 14,000 additional troops now proposed would be directed to nuclear missions, Schwartz said (Greg Webb, Global Security Newswire, Aug. 13). Back to top       India Seeks Nuclear Champion in NSG A key Indian official expressed hope recently that the United States and France would persuade other nations to allow New Delhi to purchase nuclear materials and technology on commercial markets, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 11). India is barred from buying key materials from member states to the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group because the nation has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and does not permit international oversight of all of its nuclear facilities. The United States, however, has led an effort to open nuclear trade to India’s civilian sector by waiving U.S. nuclear nonproliferation laws and pressing other nations to do the same.  NSG members are scheduled to meet next week for their first formal review of India’s request. “We have a small number (of countries) worried about nonproliferation,” said Indian national security adviser M.K. Narayanan.  “If we can get over that, we are over the hill. “That will depend on what kind of persuasion the U.S., France and others can bring to bear,” he added. Narayanan expressed hope that one nation would champion India’s cause before the group the way International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei promoted Indian nuclear cooperation before his governing board earlier this month. “If somebody could make a similar kind of speech in [the] NSG with the same degree of authority we would have it made,” he said (Jaishree Balasubramanian, Press Trust of India, Aug. 12). ElBaradei has backed the idea of greater cooperation since the United States and India first announced a tentative nuclear trade deal in 2005.  The IAEA governing board this month approved an inspections agreement allowing the agency to monitor India’s civilian nuclear sector.  ElBaradei delivered strong remarks to the board in favor the agreement. “I have been saying for some years that is we want a universal nonproliferation — a world free from nuclear weapons — we have to bring everybody on board.  And we cannot achieve that whilst one-fifth of the world’s population is outside the regime.  To me that is common sense,” he said. The traditional NPT regime must be modified to incorporate new global developments, he said. “Any regime needs to evolve if it is to continue to be effective.  So the agreement today should be seen in that light.  The best is always the enemy of the good.  Yes, we all want the NPT to be universal by tomorrow; we want to see nuclear disarmament tomorrow.  But we know that’s not going to happen,” he said.  “So let us at least commit to working together — with a road map to move forward” (Greg Webb, Global Security Newswire, Aug. 13). Back to top

U.S. Falters on Nailing Down Anthrax Mailing Motives U.S. Justice Department documents leave room for questions about the FBI’s effort to establish motives for U.S. Army microbiologist Bruce Ivins to have carried out the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people, Newsweek reported Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 12). The FBI honed in on Ivins in early 2007 as the sole suspect in the case; the scientist committed suicide late last month as federal prosecutors were reportedly preparing to press charges against him.  In court affidavits made public last week, the FBI contended that Ivins sent anthrax spores to then-NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw in retaliation for Freedom of Information Act inquiries into his anthrax vaccine research.  The requests, the documents state, had been submitted by Gary Matsumoto, "an investigative journalist who worked for NBC News." "Tell Matsumoto to kiss my ass," Ivins wrote in an e-mail on Aug. 28, 2001, an affidavit states, noting the message had been written “weeks” before anthrax was mailed to Brokaw on Sept. 18. However, Matsumoto left NBC in 1996 and was working for ABC when he filed the FOIA requests, the reporter told Newsweek, adding that federal investigators never spoke to him about the case. "They're trying to connect dots that don't connect," he said. Ivins’s attorney, Paul Kemp, questioned other claims in the affidavits, including the FBI’s suggestion that the anthrax letters targeted U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) because the lawmakers supported abortion rights while Ivins and his wife opposed them. "I don't know what that has to do with anything," Kemp said. The documents also fail to address a polygraph examination on the anthrax mailings Ivins had passed to retain laboratory access, according to Kemp.  Analysts later determined he had used breathing techniques and other "countermeasures" to conceal deceptive remarks during the test. "He was told he had passed (the polygraph) because we thought he did," Justice Department official Dean Boyd said. Some U.S. lawmakers have called for a congressional review of the Justice Department’s findings. “There are clearly a lot of unanswered questions,” said Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who has requested a complete audit of the federal investigation (Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, Aug. 9). Back to top       Opposition Delays Boston Biolab’s Opening Legal challenges and objections from local residents prevented a biological defense laboratory from opening on time this year in Boston, the Boston Herald reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 12). Construction of the federally funded National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories is about 90 percent finished, but there have been deep concerns about operating the facility in the populous South End of Boston.  A lawsuit by community organizations led state courts to order a new environmental impact assessment for the site before it can work with deadly biological agents such as Ebola and plague (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2007).  The university has not set a new date for the facility to open, but it plans to begin conducting employee training next year, university spokeswoman Ellen Berlin said. “It’s an exceptional opportunity,” she said, adding that personnel would train in emergency response as well as acquiring and transferring simulated biological agents (Jay Fitzgerald, Boston Herald, Aug. 12). Back to top

FBI Sees no Terror Link in Suspected Cyanide Death The FBI said yesterday it had found no hints of a terrorist connection to the potential cyanide poisoning of a man found dead in a high-end Denver hotel, the Denver Post reported (see GSN, Aug. 12). The victim has been identified as Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, of Ottawa, Canada.  No reason for his stay in Denver has emerged. Investigators at the scene recovered a bottle of sodium cyanide, “which you can buy,” according to Michelle Weiss-Samaras, Denver’s chief deputy coroner.  She said it would take at least one week to determine whether cyanide was the cause of Dirie’s death (Joey Bunch, Denver Post, Aug. 12). Back to top

Poland, U.S. Could Reach Interceptor Deal This Week Poland and the United States appear set this week to sign an agreement for deployment of 10 U.S. missile interceptors in the European nation, the Warsaw Business Journal reported (see GSN, Aug. 12). Washington has accepted Warsaw’s demands for permanent installation of U.S. Patriot missile batteries in Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk indicated yesterday.  The air defense systems were one of Poland’s major demands for hosting the missile defense site, which would complement a U.S. early warning radar to be deployed in the Czech Republic (see GSN, July 8). Senior officials from the State and Defense departments were expected in Warsaw today for talks with Polish officials.  “I expect that during the talks on Wednesday and Thursday we will reach an agreement with the United States related to the construction of the elements of the U.S. antimissile defense system on the Polish territory,” said Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Komorowski (Warsaw Business Journal, Aug. 13). Back to top

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