Iraq:  Al-Qaeda Reportedly Received Chemical Weapons

A report, circulating in the U.S. intelligence community, says Islamic extremists allied with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization received chemical weapons, possibly VX nerve gas, in a transfer that took place in Iraq during the last two months, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Nov. 4).

The intelligence report suggests that the chemical agent was smuggled out of Iraq through Turkey, possibly last month (Barton Gellman, Washington Post, Dec. 12).

Senior U.S. officials, however, sought to play down the report, with one official cited by CNN saying the Post story was “far too conclusive-sounding” (John King, CNN.com, Dec. 12).

The report could be used by the Bush administration to refute Iraq’s recent declaration that it had destroyed all of its chemical weapons, but information on the intelligence report was leaked without White House consent, the Post reported.

The source of the intelligence report gave the information credibility in the eyes of U.S. officials, a U.S. source said.

“The way we gleaned the information makes us feel confident it is accurate,” the official said, “I throw about 99 percent of the spot reports away when I look at them.  I didn’t throw this one away.”

The report is not backed up with hard evidence, officials cautioned.

Another official said that the government is concerned with the information and is “ramping up opportunities to collect more, to figure out what would be the routes, where would they be taking the material, how would they deploy it, how are they transporting it, what are the personnel.”

“We’re not just sitting back and waiting for something to happen,” the official added.

The government generally held back on official comments regarding the report.

“We are concerned because of al-Qaeda’s interest in obtaining and using weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, and we continue to seek evidence and intelligence information,” Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, said.

“Have they obtained chemical weapons?” Johndroe asked. “I do not have any hard, concrete evidence that they have,” he said (Gellman, Washington Post).

“Some of this stuff turns out to be right, and a lot of it turns out to be wrong or exaggerated or wishful thinking on the part of those doing the talking,” the official quoted by CNN said.

Congressional sources who usually receive sensitive intelligence briefings have said they have seen no evidence of a working relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda (King, CNN.com).

Baghdad Received Chemical Antidote

Meanwhile, the Post also reported today that Iraq imported more than 2 million vials of atropine — which could be used to inoculate soldiers against chemical warfare agents — with the permission of U.S. officials, and has ordered 1.5 million additional doses (see GSN, Nov. 13)

According to the Post report, which cited U.N. sources and documents, French, Russian and Italian companies signed firve or more contracts between 1997 and November 2001 through the U.N. oil-for-food program for the nerve agent antidote.

It was unclear why the United States has not expressed concern about the imports until now.

“I honestly don’t know the answer,” said John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (Colum Lynch, Washington Post, Dec. 12).

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United States:  Regulators Approve Change to Disposal Plan at Aberdeen

Maryland environmental officials yesterday approved a proposal to shorten the process of destroying mustard gas stockpiles at Aberdeen Proving Ground (see GSN, Jan. 10).  The Maryland Environment Department has given the Army permission to remove the agent from storage containers manually, instead of using robots, Aberdeen spokesman Jeff Lindblad said.

“There is no change in the technology, but what we will be doing is skipping a step in the process of destroying the mustard agent,” Lindblad said.

The facility plans to begin disposing of the gas in March, Lindblad said.  Before the effort begins, Maryland officials will test the disposal facility’s design and operational procedures, he added.  Empty mustard gas agent storage containers are to be decontaminated by September 2004, Maryland officials said (Joe Nawrozki, Baltimore Sun, Dec. 11).

For further information, see:

U.S. Army Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization

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Russia:  Health Ministry Refuses to Reveal Theater Raid Gas

The Russian Health Ministry has refused to release information on the composition of the gas used in October to end the takeover of a Moscow theater by Chechen rebels, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 26).  The ministry has “no right” to release the information because it is a “state secret,” Russian Health Minister Yuriy Shevchenko said in a letter to the parliamentary health committee.

The Russian news service Interfax reported yesterday that the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, recently requested that the health and security parliamentary committees determine whether it is legal to classify information related to the gas as secret (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 11).

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International Response:  Abandoned Chemical Weapons Pose Continuing Challenge for OPCW

By Bryan Bender
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Locating and establishing ownership of chemical weapons abandoned decades ago following military conflicts is proving a continuing challenge for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, according to international officials and experts on the Chemical Weapons Convention.

As called for by the 1993 treaty, four countries —China, Italy, Panama and another state that remains confidential — have declared chemical weapons have been abandoned on their territory by other nations, according to the OPCW, the organization established to administer the convention.

Yet, five years after the treaty entered into force, officials say countless unidentified chemical weapons stocks remain around the world, while those countries that have taken responsibility for abandoned weapons have achieved mixed results in fulfilling their treaty obligation to destroy them.

In Ethiopia, abandoned chemical shells and munitions — believed to have been left behind in the 1930s by Italy, which documents show brought 80,000 tons of chemical weapons into the country — continue to be found, most recently by a construction crew building a school.  Italy has not acknowledged ownership of the weapons, however, nor has Ethiopia formally registered their presence with the OPCW.  The number of abandoned weapons in Ethiopia is unknown and they are scattered about the country.  They are believed to be among countless abandoned chemical weapons left behind in Africa by Italy in the 1930s and later by World War II armies.

Elsewhere, the United States tested an estimated 31,000 mustard gas and phosgene bombs on San Jose Island in Panama between 1944 and 1947, and live munitions have recently been found.  Despite U.S. promises to dispose of the weapons, no plan has been established yet (see GSN, May 28). 

In China, on the other hand, where Japan abandoned chemical munitions in Manchuria in the 1930s, officials report significant progress has been made by Tokyo and Beijing in reaching agreement on a disposal plan and destruction of the stockpile is underway.

“The destruction of old and/or abandoned chemical weapons is especially difficult and potentially dangerous,” according to the OPCW.  “Chemical munitions produced relatively recently are well known to national experts, and their quantity normally allows for the destruction process to be organized on an industrial scale.  Old and/or abandoned chemical munitions often require much more manual handling, however, and there is a greater risk of an explosive detonation or agent contamination.”

The treaty defines old chemical weapons as those manufactured before 1925 and not believed to pose a continuing environmental hazard.  While countries are still responsible for disposing of old chemical weapons, they are considered to be toxic waste.  Abandoned weapons are defined as those manufactured after 1925. 

“Chemical weapons abandoned by one state party on the territory of another without its consent at any time since 1925 must be declared,” according to the treaty.  “They also agree to destroy any chemical weapons that they own, possess, have jurisdiction over or abandoned on the territory of another state party without its consent at any time since 1 January 1925.”

According to Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies fact sheet, after World War I chemical weapons are believed to have been used in at least four cases — by Libya against Chad in 1987; by Iraq against Iran and Iraqi Kurds during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War; possibly by Iran against Iraq in the same war; by Egypt against Yemen between 1963 and 1967; and by Italy in what is now Ethiopia around 1935.

Ethiopia Highlights Challenge

Ethiopia, where Italy is believed to have used chemical weapons in what was then called Abyssinia, is a recent example of the difficulty in identifying ownership of abandoned chemical weapons and working through the OPCW to reach agreement on how to dispose of them.

Despite the large numbers of weapons that are known to have been deployed in Ethiopia, there is now no evidence of a concentrated stockpile.  An Ethiopian Embassy official criticized Italy for not helping Ethiopia to learn if such a stockpile exists or to locate any abandoned weapons.

Last year Ethiopian officials accused Italy of breaking international law by not disclosing the location of chemical weapons depots built during Mussolini’s occupation of the area.  The discovery in May 2001 of live ammunition and grenades renewed fears that poison gas and other weapons were left behind.  It is unclear, however, how many weapons remain or where they are located.

At an autumn U.N. meeting — described to Global Security Newswire by an official who attended — an Ethiopian representative expressed frustration with Italy’s failure to acknowledge ownership of the weapons, provide documentation, or otherwise take steps toward locating any leftover stockpiles with the intent to destroy them.

“Ethiopia is unhappy with the destruction of chemical weapons as called for under the CWC,” according to Jonathan Tucker of the U.S. Institute for Peace.  “In 1936 Mussolini conquered Ethiopia and used mustard gas but apparently the Italians are challenging the fact that they have ownership.”  The Italian government has not responded to repeated requests for official comment.

Michael Moodie of the Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute, added, “If Ethiopia can prove they abandoned them in the 1930s then Italy could be found to be in violation of the treaty.  It is a question of noncompliance.  The financial responsibility [would be] Italy’s.”

Whatever the outcome in Ethiopia, the OPCW believes chemical weapons may have been abandoned across North Africa, particularly after World War II.  “There is so much of it in North Africa,” said Peter Keiser, an OPCW spokesman.  “Those armies moved fast.  Fronts moved quickly.  Apparently it isn’t easy to determine.  We need to determine ownership.”

U.S. Accused of Dragging Its Feet in Panama

In Panama, ownership has been established, but follow-on efforts have apparently bogged down.

The United States has acknowledged ownership of the weapons on San Jose Island, including seven intact 500-pound and 1,000-pound phosgene bombs, as well as gas cylinders and phosgene rockets found on the island in September 2001.

Panamanian Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Aleman has requested that U.S. reports detailing potential burial sites on the island be forwarded to his government, but no reports have been forthcoming, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reported in August.

The treaty reserves “the right of the territorial state party to request the abandoning state party to enter into consultations regarding the implementation of the obligation to destroy abandoned chemical weapons.”

If Washington fails to dispose of the weapons in Panama, it would be “clearly violating the Chemical Weapons Convention,” the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a peace activist group, said in a recent report.

Chinese and Japanese Cooperation

The relationship between China and Japan in dealing with abandoned chemical weapons is cause for optimism, officials said.  While sticking points remain, both countries have come to agreement on Japanese ownership of the abandoned weapons and Tokyo is in the process of disposing of them.

“The Chinese and Japanese outcome essentially makes the Japanese responsible,” said Moodie.  “It has required very close consultations between them.  There was some dispute over whether all of them were Japanese.  They are still working on it.

The Manchurian stockpile is the biggest abandoned chemical weapons site declared under the convention, according to Keiser.  “China wants it done more quickly, but the process is moving along,” he said.  In a defense White Paper released yesterday, China detailed its participation in assisting Japanese efforts to dispose of the weapons.

Still, a full accounting of abandoned chemical weapons remains illusive, particularly from World War II.  Elsewhere in Asia, OPCW says that Allied forces also conducted countless chemical weapons experiments in jungle conditions, including at various sites in India and modern-day Pakistan and Australia.  In 1989, 109 mustard-filled U.S. munitions were found abandoned in the Solomon Islands and were later destroyed.

“Future discoveries of abandoned and improperly destroyed CW munitions … are likely events,” disarmament expert Maria Haug wrote in a 2001 report for the OPCW.

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United States I:  Pine Bluff Arsenal Completes Incinerator

Technicians have finished building a chemical weapons incinerator at the U.S. Army Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas, the Associated Press reported yesterday.  The incinerator was finished on Nov. 21, and test burns are scheduled to begin next summer, said Army spokeswoman Ann Gallegos (see GSN, Dec. 4).  The Arkansas Environmental Quality Department plans to monitor the tests, which will simulate more extreme conditions than the actual incineration of chemical weapons, she added.

The arsenal is scheduled to begin burning its full chemical weapons stockpile in April 2004, Gallegos said (see GSN, Aug. 20; Associated Press/Dallas Morning News, Dec. 9).

For further information, see:

U.S. Army Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization

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United States II:  Umatilla Depot Officials Suspend Incinerator Test Burns

Officials at the U.S. Army Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon yesterday suspended test burns of the site’s chemical weapons incinerator after problems caused a shutdown.  A probe in the incinerator’s feed facility had failed, Army spokeswoman Mary Binder said, adding that the test burns will resume as soon as possible.

“This is an industrial facility.  Parts will need to be replaced on a daily basis,” Binder said.  “Hopefully, if all goes well, we’ll start again this week,” she added (see GSN, Dec. 3).

Oregon state officials had allowed the depot to resume operations Friday after air quality concerns had previously prompted them to suspend test burns that began in the summer, according to AP (see GSN, July 30; Associated Press, Dec. 10).

For further information, see:

U.S. Army Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization

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United States:  Incineration Study Scope Was Limited, Chief Analyst Says

A recently reported U.S. study that advocates burning stockpiled U.S. chemical weapons as soon as possible did not consider proposed new incineration methods that, according to critics, are potentially less safe, Alabama’s Birmingham News reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 5).

“Unfortunately, we had a very specific statement of task that was negotiated with the sponsor, which was the Army,” said Charles Kolb, chairman of the committee that produced the report for the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.  “That restricted us to commenting on things that actually happened (at older incinerators).  We were restricted from commenting on planned operations (in Anniston),” he added, referring to the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama.

Critics have said the study ignored the U.S. Army’s proposal to hasten incineration of rockets containing sarin gas at the depot, according to the News.  In defense of the committee, however, the study did not look into other incineration issues because it had not been tasked to do so, Kolb said.  The report recommends that engineers thoroughly test any change in method, according to the News.

The Army is seeking to alter its permit from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to allow a new method for faster disposal of the sarin-filled rockets, according to the News.  The new approach — burning munitions and poison gas together instead of separating them first — could increase the rate of rocket disposal from one every hour to 34 per hour.  Critics, including Governor Don Siegelman, have opposed the method, saying it has not been tested sufficiently, according to the News.

The National Academy of Sciences plans to release separate report examining the new approach in late spring, an academy official said.

“It violates no laws of physics.  Those furnaces are more than hot enough and it stays in there long enough,” Kolb said of the proposed new method.  “But you still have to prove you can do it safely,” he added (Mary Orndorff, Birmingham News, Dec. 5).

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