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Iraq I: U.S. Says One Question Left: Will the U.N. Support a Certain War?Two competing proposals on Iraq were introduced yesterday to the U.N. Security Council, but U.S. officials indicated that the United States would go to war regardless of how the council votes on the resolution. The sole outstanding issue for the Bush administration was whether the council would support the war or cast itself into irrelevance, officials said (see GSN, Feb. 24). In meetings with officials from Security Council members, U.S. officials have indicated that the decision to go to war has already been made, according to the Washington Post. For example, in meetings with Russian officials yesterday, Undersecretary of State John Bolton said the United States was going ahead with war regardless of the Security Council’s decision and that the U.S. focus was on maintaining the unity of the council, a senior Bush administration official said. A senior diplomat from another Security Council member said his government had also been told to not worry about making a decision on possibly launching war. “You are not going to decide whether there is war in Iraq or not,” the diplomat said U.S. officials told him. “That decision is ours, and we have already made it. It is already final. The only question now is whether the council will go along with it or not,” the diplomat added, quoting the U.S. officials. The United States has been conducting a high-level diplomatic campaign to rally the support of a majority of the Security Council for a new resolution introduced yesterday, according to the Post. So far, however, only Spain and Bulgaria have openly sided with the United States and the United Kingdom on the new resolution. Out of the 10 nonpermanent members, Germany and Syria are considered as being solidly in the “no” column. Pakistan is believed to be going to vote no or abstain, the Post reported. While the United States appears willing to accept a 9-2 vote in favor of the new resolution, with four abstentions, other council members have said such a result would equal a false victory. The resolution has to be adopted by “an important majority,” including most of the five permanent members, to maintain any sense of relevance, a nonpermanent council member diplomat said. “This idea of putting three members with veto power on the outside is not something that sounds much like unity,” the diplomat said. “Are they going to declare the Security Council “relevant” by virtue of submission by the smallest states?” the diplomat added (Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, Feb. 25). A New Resolution and a Memorandum Introduced With U.S. and Spanish support, the United Kingdom introduced the new draft resolution yesterday, formally charging that Iraq is still in violation of its disarmament obligations. If adopted, the resolution would have the council decide “that Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded it in Resolution 1441” to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction — which would likely lead to war. Resolution 1441, agreed to unanimously by the council in November, gives Iraq a final opportunity to disarm or face “serious consequences.” At the same time, France began circulating a two-page memorandum calling for “reinforced inspections” with timelines for Iraq’s cooperation on a schedule that could extend into the summer. The paper, supported by Germany and Russia, says, “Our priority should be to achieve [disarmament] peacefully through the inspection regime. The military option should only be a last resort. So far, the conditions for using force against Iraq are not fulfilled.” The memorandum is not a draft resolution. Rather, it is more of a counterpoint to the British draft. The authors of the memo say a second resolution is not needed. According to Ambassador Gunter Pleuger of Germany, the memo “is based on the present system of Security Council resolutions and therefore we feel we do not need a second resolution right now.” Pleuger said the memorandum “proposes things that have been proposed earlier [by the three governments] and have been repeated by the European Union on Feb. 17, that is, we have the common goal to disarm Iraq in a peaceful way.” British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, in introducing the draft resolution yesterday, told the council, “Today, 15 weeks on from 1441, we are no further advanced towards that objective of complete disarmament.” He said the council was seeing “an all-too-familiar pattern of Iraq trying to get us to focus on small concessions of process, rather than on the big picture. The cardinal point is that there is no semblance of wholehearted cooperation, nothing like voluntary and active disarmament.” The one-page draft resolution does not explicitly authorize using force against Iraq, but that is the clear implication of the paper because the bulk of the draft details how Iraq has not cooperated with weapons inspectors. The draft would have the council decide “that Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded it in resolution 1441.” It does not give any deadlines, so passage of the resolution could be enough to trigger the use of force. Speaking to reporters, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said, “We have not seen what this council insisted on seeing — a strategic decision by Iraq to disarm. That is the bar set by Resolution 1441 and Iraq is immensely far from reaching that bar and we all know it.” French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere countered, “The time has not come to discuss a military option. We do think that the use of force should be the last resort. We have never ruled out the use of force, but we have always stated that it should be the last resort.” The French memorandum calls for more inspections and invokes the timeline established in Resolution 1284, adopted in December 1999. The memo says the inspectors should create a program of work that would identify “the key remaining disarmament tasks to be completed by Iraq.” Following on from 1284, the inspectors would then have 120 days to pursue inspections before presenting a new report on Iraqi cooperation to the council. Such a timeline, if immediately enacted, would push a possible invasion off to the hottest time of the year in the Middle East. The paper also says the inspection regime should include more inspectors, mobile inspections units and increased aerial surveillance. “We are saying that while Iraq is not yet fully cooperating, Iraq is making some progress,” de la Sabliere said. “Inspections are making some results. We must have a timeline.” Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov told journalists, “We don’t think the chance for the peaceful disarmament of Iraq has been lost or missed. We are convinced on the contrary that the inspections are proceeding effectively and that Iraq is responding to the demands of the international community and to the pressure exerted on it and we think that this should continue.” Negroponte said the French memo “is much more process than substance. We don’t see it as contributing to the disarmament of Iraq. We view that paper with deep skepticism.” The next report by the head of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, Hans Blix, is due March 1, the same day Iraq must begin destroying its missiles that exceed the range permitted by the council (see related GSN story, today). The council is scheduled to meet March 7 to discuss the latest reports from Blix and the International Atomic Energy Agency. A drive for a vote on the draft resolution could follow at time after that, diplomats said. Greenstock told journalists, “We haven’t set a date because we’re not setting an ultimatum in those terms.” He added, “There is still an opportunity to avert conflict. But the council’s judgment that Iraq has made the wrong choice should be clear and consensual.” Syrian Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe said that as an Arab country, “we could not accept such a draft resolution to come at this stage and as a declaration of war against the Iraqi people. We are not going to support such a resolution, as Resolution 1441 has not been exhausted fully.” At one level, this is a debate about the relative value of two council resolutions governing the activities of the inspectors. Resolution 1284 created UNMOVIC and laid out a program of work and a timetable for the inspectors once they got back into Iraq following the departure of UNMOVIC’s predecessor, the U.N. Special Commission, in 1998. Resolution 1441 gave the inspectors authority for a more intrusive regime and warned Iraq of “serious consequences” if it did not fully cooperate with UNMOVIC and the IAEA. An element of the debate is how much value the earlier resolution still has. “The problem about the memorandum and its wish for a much longer period of inspections under Resolution 1284 is that it sets aside the extra pressure which is being produced by 1441,” Greenstock said. Lavrov, however, said Resolution 1284 “is part of international law. Unless explicitly cancelled by the council, it remains the basis for the inspectors work, together with 1441. There is no contradiction.” The council will continue its debate tomorrow over the two conflicting initiatives (Jim Wurst, Global Security Newswire, Feb. 25). Inspectors’ Security Council Briefing IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei will present his report on nuclear inspections within Iraq to the Security Council at the same time as the March 7 Blix briefing, IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said today. ElBaradei had originally been scheduled to hold a separate briefing on April 11, according to Reuters (Reuters/MSNBC.com, Feb. 25). Blix met yesterday with the U.N. College of Commissioners, an advisory board, to review the report he will present to the Security Council on the status of weapons inspections in Iraq. The meetings are scheduled to last through today (U.N. press release, Feb. 24). Inspections U.N. inspectors visited at least 19 suspect Iraqi sites yesterday, according to an IAEA press release. UNMOVIC missile inspectors tagged SA-2 missiles that had undergone maintenance at the al-Harith Company. They also inspected al-Rasheed Company, al-Qaid Factory, al-Eyz State Company and al-Mutasim Factory. UNMOVIC chemical inspectors conducted a rebaselining inspection at the Baghdad Institute of Technology, according to the IAEA release. UNMOVIC biological inspectors visited an airfield and a munitions test range, both located southwest of Baghdad. They also inspected munitions fragments at an old destruction site. Biological experts inspected the Environmental Engineering Laboratory at Mosul University’s Department of Civil Engineering and shelters and bunkers related to the Mosul Airfield. IAEA inspectors conducted a radiation survey in an area southwest of Baghdad, the agency release said. They also inspected the use of high-strength magnets at al-Midlad State Company, formerly known as al-Furat; al-Karama site; al-Razzi State Company, formerly known as Taji Laser; and al-Yarmook site (IAEA release, Feb. 24). For further information, see:
From February 25, 2003 issue.U.S. Response: Regan Escapes Death PenaltyA U.S. federal jury decided yesterday that Brian Regan had not attempted to sell U.S. war plans or information on specific weapons systems, including nuclear weapons, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Feb. 21). Regan was convicted last week on two counts of attempted espionage and one count of gathering national defense information, the Post reported. If the jury had agreed that he had attempted to sell specific information, Regan would have been eligible for the death penalty. He could face up to life in prison May 9, when he is scheduled to be sentenced. “As much as I am disappointed that he was convicted, I am so proud of this jury for not collapsing in this time of fear of terror,” said Jonathan Shapiro, one of Regan’s lawyers. “This should never have been a death penalty case to begin with. That message was sent loud and clear,” he added. A juror agreed with Shapiro, saying the prosecution did not produce enough evidence. “We weren’t even considering what the punishment would be,” the juror said (Jerry Markon, Washington Post, Feb. 25).
From February 25, 2003 issue.Iraq II: Summary of InspectionsExperts 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.
From February 24, 2003 issue.Iraq I: United States, United Kingdom to Submit New ResolutionThe United States and the United Kingdom are expected today to submit a new resolution to the U.N. Security Council declaring Iraq in violation of its disarmament obligations, U.N. diplomats said (see GSN, Feb. 21). British U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock is expected to submit the resolution on behalf of the two countries, Security Council diplomats said (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 24). The Bush administration plans to allow U.N. Security Council members only a short amount of time to decide whether they will support the resolution after the heads of the U.N. inspections teams brief the council next month, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday. “It isn’t going to be a long period of time from the tabling of the resolution until a judgment is made as to whether the resolution is ready to be voted on or not,” Powell said. Powell said he saw a briefing by U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, scheduled for March 7, as a last chance for Security Council members to make a decision. “I would assume that once (they have) made that report, everybody will have one last opportunity to make a judgment,” Powell said. “And shortly after that, judgment will have to be made as to what the Security Council should do,” he added. Senior White House officials have begun visiting Security Council members in an attempt to gain their support for the new resolution, according to the Washington Times. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman and Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Kim Holmes recently visited Mexico, where diplomats complained of a hostile U.S. approach. “They actually told us: ‘Any country that doesn’t go along with us will be paying a very heavy price,’” a Mexican diplomat said. Assistant Secretary of State Walter Kansteiner recently met with the leaders of Angola, Guinea and Cameroon — all three dependent on U.S. foreign aid, the Times reported. “In Africa, the message is simple: Time is running out and we think they should support us,” a U.S. diplomat said (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, Feb. 24). France Readies Alternative France is expected soon to circulate a Security Council counterproposal to the U.S.-British resolution, calling for a strict disarmament timetable, according to the Financial Times (see GSN, Feb. 12). The French proposal, to be submitted “in the next days” would call for the peaceful disarmament of Iraq, but also propose strict deadlines for it to be accomplished, according to a senior official. By establishing deadlines, support could be increased for later military action through a concrete showing of Iraqi noncompliance, U.N. diplomats said. The United States has resisted such a proposal, however, saying deadlines could only extend discussions without results (Betts/Turner, Financial Times, Feb. 24). Blix Orders Missiles Destroyed Meanwhile, Blix has established Saturday as a deadline by which Iraq must destroy its stockpile of al-Samoud 2 missiles, which have been found to have a range beyond U.N. mandates (see related GSN story, today). U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said he believed Iraq would comply with the order. “If they refused to destroy the weapons, the Security Council will have to make a decision,” Annan said. “I don’t see why they would not destroy them,” he added (London Guardian, Feb. 24). Former Senior Russian Official Visits Baghdad Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, a long-time friend of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, arrived in Baghdad Saturday on a mission for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Russian source in Baghdad said yesterday. Primakov was expected to meet with senior Iraqi officials before leaving late yesterday, the source said. The source provided no details on the purpose of the trip (Reuters/CNN.com, Feb. 23). South African Disarmament Experts Arrive in Iraq A team of South African disarmament experts began talks today with senior Iraqi officials in Baghdad on how Iraq can dispose of its weapons of mass destruction, according to Reuters. The team, led by South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, arrived in Baghdad Sunday for an open-ended period of time. “We are coming here to give the Iraqis our own experiences on disarmament. The outcome of our visit [is] that we hope to contribute in stopping a war,” Pahad said. The experts helped disarm South Africa of weapons of mass destruction after the end of apartheid in 1994. They can help Iraq prove it has disarmed itself by aiding Iraqi officials in documentation, said Deon Smit, a South African scientist who was involved in his country’s nuclear disarmament (Reuters/AlertNet, Feb. 24). The seven-member South African team includes Col. Ben Steyn, chemical and biological defense adviser to the South African surgeon general; Philip Coleman, technical adviser to the South African delegation to the Chemical Weapons Convention; and Daan van Beek, head of the Secretariat for the Council for the Nonproliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which implements South Africa’s nonproliferation legislation. In a speech to the South African Parliament last week, President Thabo Mbeki praised the experts for their knowledge and their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis, according to a South African Department of Foreign Affairs release. “Between them they will be able to address all matters that relate to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, missile systems, nonproliferation and disarmament, affecting all weapons of mass destruction,” Mbeki said. “As they leave our shores, we wish them Godspeed, confident that they will contribute everything they can to help Iraq fully to respond proactively to the obligations imposed by the U.N. Security Council resolution 1441,” he added, referring to the resolution that established the current inspections regime (SAPA/BBC Worldwide Monitoring, Feb. 24). Inspections U.N. inspectors visited at least four suspect Iraqi sites today, according to the Associated Press. Inspectors visited two plants that produce missile engines and guidance systems, as well as a chemical and explosives plant and an anti-aircraft missile maintenance facility, the Iraqi Information Ministry said (Niko Price, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 24). Yesterday, inspectors visited at least eight suspect Iraqi sites, according to an IAEA press release. Missile experts from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission visited al-Quadissiya, al-Melad, and observed a static test of an al-Samoud 2 missile at al-Rafah. UNMOVIC chemical inspectors visited al-Murage Company for Perfume Production in Baghdad. UNMOVIC biological inspectors visited the Tabook State Company, formerly known as the Karbala Ammunition Filling Plant, according to the IAEA release. They also visited the Veterinary College at Mosul University and the Ninevah Food Industrial Company, both located in the northern city of Mosul. IAEA inspectors conducted a radiation survey near al-Muthanna site (International Atomic Energy Agency release, Feb. 23). For further information, see:
From February 24, 2003 issue.Iraq II: Summary of InspectionsExperts 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.
From February 21, 2003 issue.Iraq I: Washington, London Set Their U.N. Strategy: Dare a VetoU.S. and British diplomats have settled on their diplomatic strategy in the U.N. Security Council: win nine votes for a new resolution on Iraq, the bare minimum needed for passage, and then challenge China, France and Russia to veto the measure, Bush administration officials said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 20). Previously, the two countries had hoped for a 15-0 council vote on a new resolution that would authorize military action against Iraq, according to the New York Times. Some officials involved in the discussions over the new approach had argued that a resolution approved by a divided council would be seen as weak. Over the last few weeks, however, White House officials have decided that even a resolution passed by a slim majority would still have authority, the Times reported. U.S. and British officials worked yesterday on resolving their differences on the language of the draft resolution, according to the Times. It is likely to be introduced in the Security Council next week, possibly Monday, Bush administration officials said. U.S. and British officials also discussed how to persuade five of the council’s six uncommitted, nonpermanent members — Angola, Guinea, Cameroon, Mexico, Chile and Pakistan — to support the new resolution, diplomats said. Currently, only Bulgaria and Spain have openly supported the U.S.-British position, the Times reported. The United States and the United Kingdom, which support an attack on Iraq, and France and Germany, which oppose such action, have said they are not using economic pressure to sway the remaining nonpermanent members. The foreign aid programs provided to these countries, however, are an important factor in the discussions, diplomats said. The six countries “are really feeling the heat, and they’re going to be feeling even more heat in coming days,” said a Bush administration official. “On the other side, the French and Germans are turning up the pressure, too,” the official added (Weisman/Barringer, New York Times, Feb. 21). Blix Prepares Questions Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix plans Monday to give his advisory board a list of about 30 unresolved questions related to Iraq’s disarmament, according to Reuters. The list is part of preparations for a written report Blix is expected to submit to the Security Council on either Feb. 28 or March 3. A briefing, scheduled for March 7, will then follow that report, diplomats said. The entire list of remaining questions, almost 300 pages, has been compiled by the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission over the past several years, Reuters reported. The UNMOVIC advisory group is expected to receive a condensed version “in clusters” during meetings Monday and Tuesday (Evelyn Leopold, Reuters/MSNBC.com, Feb. 21). Iraq’s Illegal Missiles Meanwhile, Blix is expected to send a letter to Iraq today demanding that it destroy all of its al-Samoud 2 ballistic missiles, which an expert panel has recently determined violate U.N. mandates because of their range, diplomats and U.N. officials said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 20; Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 21). U.N. inspectors last night were preparing the order, which would cover 100 al-Samoud 2s, 50 of which have already been sent to the Iraqi army; and 380 illegally imported SA-2 engines that were meant for use in al-Samoud 2 production, the National Post reported. Iraq is also expected to be ordered to destroy casting chambers that could be used to produce engines for missiles capable of traveling farther than the U.N.-allowed range of 150 kilometers (Steven Edwards, National Post, Feb. 20). Blix is still deciding whether to set a formal deadline for Iraq’s destruction of the missiles, knowing that if Iraq refuses to do so, it could set off war, according to U.N. and U.S. officials. “The discussions today were on setting an artificial timeline of when destruction should begin and end,” a U.N. official said yesterday. During those discussions, Blix and other officials recognized that Iraq’s refusal to carry out the missile destruction order “would constitute the most direct and visible defiance of the United Nations since inspections resumed,” the U.N. official added. During the previous inspections regimes from 1991 to 1998, inspectors operated under different practices for the destruction of prohibited weapons and the equipment used to produce them, according to the Washington Post. “In the beginning, destruction was immediate or very rapid,” said former U.N. inspector Timothy McCarthy. “There were negotiations about disposition of equipment, but ultimately we destroyed whatever we wanted. At no time was there an item that we wished to destroy that we didn’t destroy,” he added (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Feb. 21). Iraq has claimed that the missiles flight-tested beyond U.N.-allowed ranges because they were not equipped at the time with warheads and guidance systems, which would have made them heavier. Baghdad wants U.N. technical experts to travel to Iraq to “to see that these missiles cannot exceed in any way 150 kilometers, and not to limit themselves to a written paper, a theoretical report,” Iraq’s U.N. Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri said (Lederer, Associated Press). U.S. Troops Ready to Invade The United States and the United Kingdom have amassed a military presence large enough in the Persian Gulf region to invade Iraq at any time, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday. “I would characterize it as ample,” Rumsfeld said of the U.S.-British military force, during an interview on PBS’s NewsHour With Jim Lehrer. “We are at a point where, if the president (George W. Bush) makes that decision (to attack), the Department of Defense is prepared and has the capabilities and the strategy to do that,” he said. So far, the United States and the United Kingdom have assembled more than 150,000 troops, dozens of warships and hundreds of aircraft, defense officials said. Six aircraft carriers, five U.S. and one British, are also expected to join the force soon, which could number more than 200,000 troops by the end of the month, according to U.S. officials. Rumsfeld, however, refused to provide more details on the exact makeup of the U.S.-British force. “I don’t do numbers,” he said (Reuters/Financial Times, Feb. 21). Inspections Inspectors yesterday conducted a second reconnaissance flight over Iraq using a U.S. U-2 aircraft — the second such flight this week, according to the Associated Press. During yesterday’s flight, the aircraft spent more than six hours over Iraq, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said (see GSN, Feb. 18). Iraq has also submitted to inspectors a list of people involved in the destruction of prohibited biological weapons and missile items, Buchanan said. Iraq had previously submitted a list of 83 people who were reported involved in the destruction of banned chemical weapons. “Those lists are being studied, and clearly might be potential names for interviews,” Buchanan said (Niko Price, Associated Press/Boston Globe, Feb. 21). Two French Mirage 4 surveillance aircraft left an airbase in southern France today and are expected to later arrive at an undisclosed location in the Persian Gulf region, according to Agence France-Presse. The aircraft, along with two refueling planes and a 70-member support team, were offered to inspectors as part of a French-German-Russian proposal to strengthen inspections (see GSN, Feb. 12; Agence France-Presse/Yahoo.com, Feb. 21). Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said yesterday inspectors were being subjected to unwelcome, heavy pressure. “Inspectors are being subjected to very strong pressure in order to provoke their departure from Iraq, as occurred in 1998, or to present Security Council assessments which could be used as a pretext for the use of force against Iraq,” he said. While declining to identify the source of such pressure, Ivanov has previously accused “certain circles” in the United States of doing so (Reuters/Gulf News, Feb. 21). Inspectors visited at least 23 suspect Iraqi sites yesterday, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency press release. UNMOVIC missile teams placed additional tags on al-Samoud 2 missiles and warheads located in Baghdad. Missile experts also visited al-Qudis factory and al-Wazariya site. Inspectors also conducted an aerial survey via helicopter of several sites northwest of Baghdad, located up the Tigris River to the city of Tikrit. UNMOVIC chemical inspectors visited al-Aaela Factory for Sulfochemicals, where they conducted a rebaselining inspection, according to the IAEA release. UNMOVIC biological inspectors performed aerial inspections on a site west of Baghdad and a site southwest of the city. Biological inspectors also visited via helicopter an alcohol-producing factory south-southwest of the city of Amarah in southeastern Iraq. IAEA inspectors inspected flow-forming equipment at al-Karama facility and the Ghraib facility, the agency release said. IAEA inspectors also visited the Shakyli Stores at the Tuwaitha site, to inspect materials from Iraq’s past centrifuge program, and al-Eyz Company. Agency inspectors conducted radiation surveys at ElBasel Company-ElNahrawan, the Sabaa (Seven) Nissan General Company, an oil workers residential complex, the Department of Oil Truck Maintenance and an air defense unit east of Baghdad (IAEA release, Feb. 20). For further information, see:
From February 21, 2003 issue.U.S. Response: Former Air Force Technician Convicted of SpyingA former U.S. Air Force master sergeant was convicted yesterday of offering U.S. intelligence to Iraq and China but a jury could not decide whether he had tried to sell Baghdad documents on nuclear weapons, military satellites or U.S. war plans, the Associated Press reported. If the jurors decide that Brian Regan tried to sell those secrets to Iraq, he would be eligible for the death penalty. The jury acquitted Regan, a father of four from Maryland, of spying for Libya. Regan worked at the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates U.S. satellites. He was arrested in 2001 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia while boarding a flight for Switzerland, allegedly while carrying top-secret information. Prosecutors said that Regan offered to sell U.S. military secrets to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for $13 million. Defense attorneys said that Regan fantasized about spying, but never followed through with the effort (Jonathan Salant, Associated Press/Boston Globe, Feb. 21). U.S. District Judge Gerald Lee sent the jury home for the weekend and said he hoped the trial would not end without resolving the Iraq charge. “They have not reached the conclusion that they are hung, but it sounds like they are struggling to reach unanimity in answering that question,” he said (Jerry Markon, Washington Post, Feb. 21).
From February 21, 2003 issue.Iraq II: Summary of InspectionsExperts 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.
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