Threat Assessment:  U.S. Could Lower Threat Level Soon

U.S. Homeland Defense Secretary Tom Ridge suggested Sunday that the current “orange” threat level of terrorist attack could be lowered shortly (see GSN, Feb. 7).

“Today, as we speak, because we review the information and our intelligence on a day-to-day basis, we maintain it at the orange level, but that could change within 24 to 48 hours,” Ridge said on CNN’s Late Edition.

“Although some [intelligence reports] may have faded in terms of accuracy or relevance, there is still enough out there for today for us to remain on an orange level,” Ridge said.

Recent reports have questioned the accuracy of information used to increase the threat level from “yellow” (see GSN, Feb. 14; David Johnston, New York Times, Feb. 17).

“(We) realized that some of the information we acted upon … from time to time does not prove to be as accurate as we thought it was,” Ridge said.  “One of the problems associated with the intelligence community is you don’t always have easy access to the sources of information you are acting on,” he added.

The threat of terrorist attack may also have declined somewhat with the end of last week’s hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, according to the Los Angeles Times (David Willman, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 17).

WMD Threats Detailed

Meanwhile, federal officials have been issuing security advisories to state and local law enforcement agencies describing the possible threat of bioterrorism.  The FBI and Homeland Security Department have provided information about the types of biological and chemical weapons they believe al-Qaeda has obtained and tested.

“Information indicates the group has experimented with procedures for making blister (mustard) and nerve (sarin and VX) chemical agents,” according to one advisory.

Other advisories cautioned that WMD attacks could be conducted at multiple sites in a coordinated fashion (John Solomon, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 16).

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Iraq I:  U.S. Continues Push for Force Despite Growing Opposition

The United States and United Kingdom intend to press forward this week with a new U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing force against Iraq, despite the weekend’s global peace demonstrations and the expected opposition of other council members, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 14).

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte and his British counterpart Jeremy Greenstock met yesterday to plan the content and timing of their resolution, now expected to be circulated late tomorrow following two days of debate among non-Security Council members.  More than 40 nations have signed up to speak at a session beginning this afternoon.

Prospects for passage of the new resolution appeared dim with French President Jacques Chirac saying yesterday that France would not allow any resolution that explicitly authorized war against Iraq at this time.

“There is no need for a second resolution today, which France would have no choice but to oppose,” Chirac said yesterday in Brussels where the European Union held an emergency summit.

U.S. officials said they hoped that a carefully crafted resolution could receive council support.  The resolution would restate that Iraq remains in material breach of its obligations, officials said (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 18).

In addition, it would probably call for Iraq to perform specific tasks in the next two weeks to demonstrate that it is cooperating with U.N. inspectors, officials said.  Those tasks would include allowing U.N. inspectors to interview scientists privately, destroying missiles determined last week to have ranges exceeding U.N. limits, and unconditionally permitting U.N. surveillance flights conducted by U.S., French and Russian aircraft.

U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspections Commission chief Hans Blix concurred with these benchmarks in meetings with U.S. officials Friday following his Security Council briefing (Steven Weisman, New York Times, Feb. 16).

Rice Blasts Security Council

Commenting on the reaction of many council members to Blix’s report, U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice accused France of appeasing Iraq.

“Any time you have a situation in which you are calling for more time rather than calling for Iraq to immediately comply,” with U.N. resolutions, “it plays into the hands” of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Rice said.  She spoke Sunday on Fox News Sunday and NBC’s Meet the Press.

“We need to remind everybody that tyrants don’t respond to any kind of appeasement,” she said.  “Tyrants respond to toughness.  And that was true in the 1930s and 1940s when we failed to respond to tyranny and it is true today,” she said (Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, Feb. 17).

Security Council Reaction to Blix

In remarks to the council after Blix’s report, France maintained its position that inspections are working and need more time.  “Let us allow the United Nations inspectors the time they need for their mission to succeed,” said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.  “No one can assert today that the path of war will be shorter than that of the inspections.” 

“Let us be clear:  Not one of us feels the least indulgence towards Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi regime,” he said.  “The question today is simple:  Do we consider in good conscience that disarmament via inspections is now leading us to a dead end?  Or do we consider that the possibilities regarding inspections presented in Resolution 1441 have still not been fully explored?”

“There are those who think that the inspections … cannot be the least effective,” de Villepin said.  “But I recall that this is the very foundation of Resolution 1441 and that the inspections are producing results.”

His speech was greeted with applause both from the delegates’ and visitors’ gallery, an extremely rare occurrence at the Security Council.

Powell Says Iraq Is Playing “Tricks”

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell responded, telling the council, “I am glad that access has been relatively good.  But that is all process; it is not substance. … These are all tricks that are being played on us.”

Discarding his prepared text and speaking extemporaneously, he said the declaration Iraq submitted in December on its weapons was “an early test of Iraq’s seriousness.  Are they serious?  Are they going to disarm?  Are they going to comply?  Are they going to cooperate?  And the answer with that declaration was, ‘No.  We’re going to see what we can get away with.  We can see how much we can slip under your nose, and everybody will clap and say, ‘Isn’t that wonderful?’  They provided a declaration that was of not any particular use.”

“The questions remain,” Powell continued.  “We haven’t accounted for the anthrax.  We haven’t accounted for the botulinum, the VX, bulk biological agents, growth media, 30,000 chemical and biological munitions.  These are not trivial matters one can just ignore and walk away from and say, ‘well, maybe the inspectors will find them, maybe they won’t.’  We have not had a complete, accurate declaration.”

“More inspectors?  Sorry, not the answer.  What we need is immediate cooperation,” Powell said.  “I submit to you that notwithstanding the improvements in process that we have noted ... these improvements in process do not move us away from the central problem that we continue to have; and more inspections and a longer inspection period will not move us away from the central issue, the central problem we are facing; and that central problem is that Iraq has failed to comply with 1441.  The threat of force must remain.”

“Force should always be a last resort,” Powell said.  “I have preached this for most of my professional life, as a soldier and as a diplomat, but it must be a resort.  We cannot allow this process to be endlessly strung out as Iraq is trying to do right now — string it out long enough and the world will start looking in other directions, the Security Council will move on, we’ll get away with it again.”

Foreign Minster Jack Straw of the United Kingdom, Washington’s strongest ally on the council, said Iraq has “failed to make a full and complete disclosure, … failed to cooperate fully and actively on substance, as well as on process, with the inspectors, and failed substantively to meet the obligations imposed on them.”  He added, “Iraq’s material breaches, which we spelled out on the 8th of November [in Resolution 1441], are still there.”

“We have only got to this stage by doing what the United Nations Charter requires of us, which is to back a diplomatic process with a credible threat of force and also, if necessary, to be ready to use that threat of force,” said Straw.  “If we back away from that, if we decide to give unlimited time for little or no cooperation on substance, then the disarmament of Iraq … will not get any easier, but very much harder.”

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer echoed the comments of nearly all the 15 council members in saying that Iraq must disarm completely.  Backing the French position, Fischer said, “The inspectors have been able to score some successes.  Already today their presence on the ground has substantially diminished the danger emanating from Iraq. … Why should we now turn away from this path?”

“There should be no automatism leading us to the use of military force,” Fischer added.  “All possible alternatives need to be exhaustively explored.”

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara said war “will spill over into the entire region, the war will lead to total anarchy, benefiting solely those who take it upon themselves to spread fear and destruction.”  He added, “The simple thought that war would be one of the options before the Security Council is by itself a proof not only of the failure of the Security Council to discharge its tasks, but also of the entire international order.”

Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri said his government has offered the inspectors “unprecedented cooperation.”  He added, “We know that some states were not very happy with this cooperation, some would have wished Iraq had obstructed inspections. … However, this did not, and will not, happen because Iraq has genuinely decided to prove that it is free of weapons of mass destruction and lift any doubts in that regard” (Jim Wurst, Global Security Newswire, Feb. 14).

EU Declaration

Meanwhile in Brussels, the 15-nation European Union issued a “last chance” for Iraq to comply with its U.N. commitments.  A joint statement yesterday called for Iraq to “disarm and cooperate immediately and fully,” but also supported giving U.N. inspectors “the time and resources that the U.N. Security Council believes they need.”

“However, inspections cannot continue indefinitely in the absence of full Iraqi cooperation,” the statement said.

The statement reaffirmed the primacy of the United Nations in resolving the Iraqi crisis.  “We are committed to the United Nations remaining at the center of the international order.  We recognize that the primary responsibility for dealing with Iraqi disarmament lies with Security Council.  We pledge our full support to the council in discharging its responsibilities,” the statement said.

Ultimately, however, full responsibility lies with Iraq, the statement said.  “The Iraqi regime alone will be responsible for the consequences if it continues to flout the will of the international community and does not take this last chance,” the statement said (IrelandOn-Line, Feb. 18).

NATO Resolution

A day earlier in Brussels, NATO officials resolved a major dispute by moving a discussion on providing defensive aid to Turkey to the NATO Defense Planning Council, a forum which does not include France.

The move allowed NATO to approve a U.S. request for NATO to provide Turkey, which borders Iraq, with Patriot missiles, sophisticated reconnaissance aircraft and WMD defense equipment.

“Alliance solidarity has prevailed,” said NATO Secretary General George Robertson.

The decision ends a week of bitter infighting that threatened to dismantle the 53-year-old alliance.

France, Belgium and Germany had objected to the U.S. proposal saying that a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi crisis was still possible.  With France out of the decision, however, Germany agreed to support the decision and Belgium also dropped its longstanding demand that any decision be linked to a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing force (Bernstein/Weisman, New York Times, Feb. 17).

Arab Summit Falters

In Cairo, a meeting of senior Arab officials failed to agree Sunday to hold their own emergency summit on Iraq.  Disagreements over the goal of such a summit highlighted the split in the region on what approach should be pursued with Iraq, the Associated Press reported.

Foreign ministers from the 22-nation Arab League agreed to hold more consultations to set a date for summit. 

The substantive disagreement over the proper strategy on Iraq was apparent in two camps.  One, led by Syria, believed that an Arab summit should only meet to send a “strong message to the United States” expressing the league’s opposition to war in Iraq and to U.S. Mideast policies, an Arab diplomat said.

“If it is a summit that’s going to say ‘no’ to war … then let it be,” said Syrian representative Youssef al-Ahmed.  “But if it’s a meaningless summit, it will be a disaster for the Arab nations,” he added.

The other camp wanted a summit to urge Iraq to cooperate with U.N. inspectors, the diplomat said.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa of Egypt said he would work with Lebanese and Egyptian officials to try to find a way to hold the summit in the future (Salah Nasrawi, Associated Press/Washington Post, Feb. 16).

Inspections Continue

While world officials discussed next steps, U.N. weapons inspectors continued their activities over the weekend, visiting several Iraqi sites and using a U.S. U-2 aircraft for the first time.

Saturday, UNMOVIC missile teams visited al-Nida, which produces solid propellant mixers, Nissan Factory 17, where al-Samoud 2 missile components are produced, and the Salah al-Din State Company, where fuses and circuit boards are made.

Biological teams went to the Saddam Center for Biotechnology Research in Baghdad, the Chemistry Department at Saddam University’s College of Science, and An Bar College of Agriculture, about 150 kilometers west of Baghdad.

Chemical inspectors flew by helicopter to the Southern Refinery Company in Basra.

Four teams of nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency conducted inspections Saturday, including two at Tuwaitha to examine nuclear waste.  One of these teams included inspectors with rock climbing experience who explored underground chambers at the Tamuz 1 reactor complex, bombed by Israel in 1981.  The second prepared to remove a small amount of natural uranium slurry, as planned by the IAEA in 1998.

Another IAEA team took radiation samples from a car driving near the Radwan and Yarmouk facilities 50 kilometers west of Baghdad, and a fourth inspected the Taji Engineering facility, which works on aircraft engines (U.N. release, Feb. 15).

Sunday, UNMOVIC biological inspectors visited two food processing centers, one at Baquba, 50 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, and the other near Diyala.

Those teams also visited the Biology Department of the College of Sciences at Baquba University and the Diyala Tuberculosis and respiratory disease center.

Missile experts conducted investigations at al-Kindi, tagged SA-2 missile engines at Ibn al-Haytham, tagged al-Samoud 2 missiles near Taji, and visited al-Mamoun, where Iraq has rebuilt casting chambers earlier destroyed by U.N. inspectors.

Chemical experts visited Fallujah 3, located 100 kilometers northwest of Baghdad.

Additional UNMOVIC teams inspected the Hadr Ammunition Storage Facility near Mosul.  “The teams covered a vast amount of ground, which included roughly 300 storage warehouses, bunkers, brick stores, metal containers and external munitions dumps,” said U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki (U.N. release, Feb. 16).

Yesterday, IAEA officials interviewed an Iraqi scientist about Baghdad’s past efforts to acquire aluminum tubing, possibly for uranium enrichment purposes.

Meanwhile, UNMOVIC missile teams visited al-Khadimia and al-Samoud Factories, which produce liquid-fueled missile engines, al-Assma Company, which makes al-Fateh missile components, al-Mutasim airfield, where unmanned aircraft are tested, al-Ameen Factory, involved in the static testing of Iraqi missiles, and Um al-Maarik General Establishment, where missile and rocket motor cases are produced.

Chemical teams went to al-Muthanna “in connection with the mustard gas destruction process,” said Ueki.  Other inspectors went to al-Zahif al-Kabeer Center, a chemical plant 30 kilometers northwest of Baghdad.

A biological team flew to al-Fuwayjah, near Kirkuk, to examine a seed processing facility, and another team revisited the Hadr ammunition dump.

IAEA officials conducted a radiation survey in the Samarra area, inspected al-Nida, a heavy industrial manufacturing plant, visited Um al-Maarik again, and inspected Tho al-Fekar to examine flow forming equipment (U.N. release, Feb. 17).

Today, inspectors visited the al-Qa Qaa chemical and explosives production plant south of Baghdad and the Harith Missile Maintenance Workshop, where Iraq maintains anti-aircraft missiles, and went for the first time to the Dar al-Salam chemical plant west of Baghdad, according to an Iraqi statement

IAEA officials conducted a radiation survey at the Mansour State Company, which makes electronic components, the statement said.

U-2 Flight

U.N. officials confirmed today that a U.S. U-2 aircraft flew for the first time yesterday in support of U.N. inspectors.

“It’s about time, too,” said UNMOVIC spokesman Ewen Buchanan.  “We’ve been trying to do this for quite a while and we hope that the other reconnaissance aircraft and drones will be up and running shortly, thereby increasing our capabilities,” he said (Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press/San Mateo County Times, Feb. 18).

How Iraq and the U.N. inspectors resolved the issue of Baghdad demanding prior notification of the flights was not known.  As of late Sunday, Iraq was continuing to ask for detailed flight plans of the U-2 flights.  U.N. spokesman Ueki, said yesterday that UNMOVIC “gave them prior notification about the window,” during which the U-2 would fly (John Daniszewski, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 18).

For further information, see:

UNMOVIC

U.N. Resolution 1441

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Iraq II:  Summary of Inspections

Experts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency have conducted hundreds of inspections in Iraq since resuming the post-Gulf War inspection regime Nov. 27.  More than 200 U.N. personnel, including about 150 inspectors, are now based in the country at two facilities in Baghdad and Mosul.  The following chart summarizes some of the inspectors’ recently reported activities.

 

Date	Site	Activity
Feb. 18	Al-Qa Qaa	U.N. teams visit this chemical and explosives production plant (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Harith Missile Maintenance Workshop	Missile experts inspect this anti-aircraft missile maintenance facility (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Mansour State Company	IAEA radiation survey of electronics manufacturing facility (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Dar al-Salam chemical plant	(See GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Tahidi factory	Production plant for electrical cables and high-voltage generators (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Dairy in southern Diwaniya province	(See GSN, Feb. 18).
Feb. 17	Al-Khadimia and al-Samoud Factories	UNMOVIC missile inspectors examined these facilities that work on liquid-fueled engines (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Assma Company	Manufacturing plant for al-Fateh missile components (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Mutasim airfield	Site of Iraqi UAV testing (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Ameen Factory	Site of static testing of al-Fateh and al-Abour missile motor cases (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Um al-Maarik General Establishment	Manufacturing facility for missile and rocket motor cases (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Muthanna	UNMOVIC chemical experts visited “in connection with the mustard gas destruction process and took some chemical samples for analysis” (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Zahif al-Kabeer Center	Chemical plant designed to extract minerals and chemical compounds from mining and seawater (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Fuwayjah	UNMOVIC biological experts visited this seed processing facility (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Hadr Ammuntion Storage Facility	UNMOVIC teams “focused primarily on artillery and small-caliber munitions” (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Samarra	IAEA radiation survey (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Nida	IAEA experts visited this heavy industrial manufacturing plant (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Um al-Maarik	IAEA “no-notice” inspection (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Tho al-Fekar	IAEA team investigates flow forming equipment and processes (see GSN, Feb. 18).
Feb. 16	Food processing facility at Baquba	UNMOVIC biological inspectors visited (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Biology Department of the College of Sciences at Baquba University
	Food processing facility at Diyala
	Diyala Tuberculosis and respiratory center
	Al-Kindi	UNMOVIC missile experts visited this missile development site (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Ibn al-Haytham	UNMOVIC missile experts tagged SA-2 missile engines (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Taji	Missile experts tagged al-Samoud 2 missiles (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Al-Mamoun	Missile inspectors examined casting chambers rebuilt by Iraq after U.N. inspectors destroyed them in the 1990s (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Fallujah 3	UNMOVIC chemical experts conducted an “inspection involved [in] the verification of declared items” (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Hadr Ammunition Storage Facility	UNMOVIC teams “covered a vast amount of ground, which included roughly 300 storage warehouses, bunkers, brick stores, metal containers and external munitions dumps” (see GSN, Feb. 18).
Feb. 15	Al-Nida	UNMOVIC missile inspection of solid propellant mixer plant (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Nissan Factory 17	Production plant for al-Samound missile components (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Salah al-Din State Company	Manufacturing facility for fuses and printed circuit boards for missiles (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Saddam Center for Biotechnology Research	UNMOVIC biological team visited to “follow up the movement of items notified by the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate” (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Chemistry Department of Saddam University College of Science	(See GSN, Feb. 18).
	Southern Refinery Company	UNMOVIC chemical experts sought evidence of chemical weapons production at this facility in Basra (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Tuwaitha	Rockclimbing IAEA inspectors explore previously inaccessible underground chambers at the Israeli-bombed Tamuz 1 reactor complex (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Tuwaitha	IAEA officials inspected and prepared to remove “a small amount of natural uranium slurry,” previously intended for removal in 1998 (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Radwan and Yarmouk facilities	IAEA radiation surveys (see GSN, Feb. 18).
	Taji Engineering facility	IAEA inspectors examined this aircraft engine facility (see GSN, Feb. 18).
Feb. 7-13	See GSN, Feb. 14.

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North Korea:  Pyongyang Threatens 1953 Peace Agreement, Plans New Reactors

North Korea’s military threatened today to “abandon its commitment” to the Armistice Agreement that ended fighting on the Korean Peninsula in 1953.  The threat followed reports that the United States was preparing new sanctions to impose on North Korea (see GSN, Feb. 13).

The Korean Peoples’ Army “will be left with no option but to take a decisive step to abandon its commitment to implement the Armistice Agreement as a signatory to it and free itself from the binding force of all its provisions, regarding the possible sanctions to be taken by the U.S. side against the D.P.R.K,” the army said in a statement (James Brooke, New York Times, Feb. 18).

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that U.S. military planners were exploring ways to use U.S. forces to stop North Korean missile and WMD exports.  In December, U.S.-requested Spanish forces detained a North Korean ship carrying Scud missiles to Yemen, but U.S. officials decided they had no legal standing to confiscate the shipment and allowed the delivery (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2002).

To prevent a recurrence of that situation, U.S. officials said they would need U.N. Security Council authorization to seize such shipments.

Nevertheless, the United States was not expected to request that authority soon, according to the New York Times.  Instead, the United States would first urge the council, perhaps in the next two weeks, to condemn North Korea’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (see GSN, Jan. 10) and its decision to restart a nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, the Times reported (see GSN, Feb. 6).

In addition, Washington would continue to push Russia and China to take a more active role in pressuring North Korea to reverse its nuclear course (James Dao, New York Times, Feb. 16).

New Reactors Planned

Meanwhile, North Korea intends to build four more nuclear plants, with each producing 40 times the power of the five-megawatt reactor that is the focus of international attention, the London Telegraph reported Sunday.

Claiming that “desperate measures” were necessary, North Korean energy director Kim Jae Rok told the Telegraph that the new reactors would “enable us to meet the urgent need for electricity supplies in our country” (Mike Thomson, London Sunday Telegraph, Feb. 16).

For further information, see:

Agreed Framework Text

KEDO

NPT Text

States Parties to the NPT (U.N.)

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Anthrax:  Victim’s Widow Files $50 Million Claim From U.S. Army

The widow of the first person to die in the 2001 U.S. anthrax attacks has filed a $50 million claim against the U.S. Army, alleging that poor security at Maryland’s Fort Detrick research center permitted someone to steal the anthrax that killed Robert Stevens in Florida (see GSN, Feb. 3).

Stevens was the first of five fatalities in Florida, Connecticut, New York and Washington after anthrax-laden letters were processed and delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

Stevens’ widow, Maureen Stevens, is trying to get more information about his death, including an autopsy report, and is seeking a financial settlement, her attorney Richard Schuler said Friday.  She has been frustrated by the federal investigation into Stevens’ death, Schuler said.

“There have been no arrests.  There’s been no information given to her, no indication that the investigation is progressing,” Schuler said.

AMI Building Deal

In a measure approved by Congress Thursday, the federal government would buy and clean up the building where Stevens worked as a photo editor for American Media Inc., publisher of tabloid newspapers, including the National Enquirer.

The arrangement calls for the United States to purchase the building for $1, and then assume all the clean-up costs, estimated at $7 million to $20 million (Kathy Bushouse, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Feb. 16).

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North Korea:  Ship of Missile Fame Brings Home Tons of CW Precursor

North Korea received a chemical shipment Thursday that could be used to manufacture the nerve sarin, the Washington Times reported today.  The shipment from Germany arrived at the west coast seaport of Nampo on the same ship that delivered Scud missiles to Yemen in December (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2002).

After delivering those missiles, the North Korean ship, the So San, sailed to Germany where it took on several tons of sodium cyanide, a dual-use chemical that can be used peacefully to produce pesticides and plastics, U.S. intelligence officials said.

Sodium cyanide is controlled by the Australia Group, an informal export control regime intended to prevent chemical weapon proliferation (see GSN, June 21, 2002).  Germany is a member of the 34-nation group, but an embassy spokesman could not be reached for comment.

On arrival in port, So San Captain Kang Cholryong discussed the December missile incident when Spanish forces detained the ship laden with Scud missiles bound for Yemen.  After U.S. officials decided the shipment was legal, the ship was permitted to make its delivery.

Kang told the Korean Central News Agency that his crew had tried to set his ship on fire and sink it, but was prevented by commandos who boarded the ship from helicopters (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Feb. 18).

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CD: Iraq Gives Up Rotational Presidency of U.N. Conference

Iraq has excused itself from assuming the presidency of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament next month, the Associated Press reported Sunday.  Iraq’s scheduled turn at the rotating position had provoked U.S. outrage (see GSN, Feb. 14).

Iraq’s U.N. mission told Secretary General Kofi Annan Friday that Baghdad had sent a letter to the world body saying Iraq would not be assuming the month-long presidency of the international body that strives to limit arms proliferation worldwide.  Iraq was scheduled to take over the leadership role, which rotates alphabetically through the conference’s 66 member nations, on March 17.

India is the current president, Indonesia is next, and then Ireland will follow after both Iran and Iraq have decided not to take the seat (Associated Press/Washington Times, Feb. 16).

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