U.S. Response:  United States to Provide Kazakhstan $40 Million to Combat Diseases

The United States plans to provide Kazakhstan with $40 million over the next two years through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program to help combat infectious diseases, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 18).

The U.S. funding is slated to go toward upgrading Kazakh medical research centers, according to the Associated Press.  During a two-day visit to the city of Almaty, Lugar met with senior Kazakh officials and discussed nonproliferation issues.  Lugar said that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev had expressed hope that the United States and Kazakhstan would continue to cooperate on nonproliferation issues until at least 2007 (Associated Press, Aug. 18).   

Also during his visit to Kazakhstan, Lugar was presented yesterday with the country’s highest award for foreign dignitaries, the Order Dostyk of the 1st degree, for his efforts to promote bilateral cooperation on nonproliferation issues, according to a Kazakh Embassy press release.

[EDITOR'S NOTE:  Richard Lugar is on the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.]

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Iraq:  Blair’s Chief of Staff Raised Concerns Over WMD Dossier

Shortly before the British government released a September 2002 dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, a top aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair warned that the dossier failed to prove that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein posed a threat, a government inquiry panel heard yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 18).

In an e-mail sent a week before the dossier was released, Blair’s Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell said the dossier was “good and convincing for those who are prepared to be convinced,” but it “does nothing to demonstrate a threat, let alone an imminent threat from Saddam,” according to the Washington Post.  In a message sent to three Blair aides, Powell also said the dossier did not show that Hussein had “the motive to attack his neighbors, let alone the West.”

After receiving Powell’s messages, however, Blair’s office released the dossier, which included a forward from Blair himself saying, “I am in no doubt that the threat is serious and current, that he (Hussein) has made progress on WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and that he has to be stopped,” the Post reported (Glenn Frankel, Washington Post, Aug. 19).

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Iraq:  Officials Toughened British Dossier on Iraqi WMD Days Before Release

Shortly before releasing a September 2002 intelligence dossier on Iraqi WMD capabilities, British officials strengthened some of the language used to describe the threat in ways that were unsupported by other senior British intelligence experts, the London Independent reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 12).

For example, a draft of the dossier said Iraq had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons available “either from pre-Gulf War stocks or more recent production.”  The final version of the dossier, however, said that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons available “both from pre-Gulf War stocks and more recent production.”

Even the title of the dossier was altered to make a more convincing case that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, according to the Independent.  Up until the dossier’s release, it was titled, “Iraq’s program for weapons of mass destruction.”  When the dossier was released, however, the words “program for” were removed from the title.

Glen Rangwala of Cambridge University said the change in the wording of the title of dossier was significant because the inclusion of the word “program” does not indicate that actual weapons of mass destruction existed.  According to Rangwala, some British intelligence experts believed there were only suspected WMD programs in Iraq instead of actual stockpiles (Jo Dillon, London Independent, Aug. 17).

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U.S. Response:  U.S. Disarmament Support Should Continue Despite Incomplete Russian Cooperation, Lugar Says

U.S. funding of programs to dispose of Russian WMD stockpiles should continue unimpeded despite a lack of full Russian cooperation, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Friday (see GSN, May 23).

“Our objective, and the Russian objective at the highest level, is to destroy weapons of mass destruction,” Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said on a Moscow visit. 

Since 1992, U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction programs have helped Russia dispose of its weapons of mass destruction.

Lugar met with Russian Munitions Agency Director Viktor Kholstov Friday to discuss U.S.-Russian efforts to accelerate the disposal of Russia’s vast stockpile of chemical weapons, according to the Los Angeles Times (see GSN, April 28).  Lugar was also scheduled to visit the city of Perm, 700 miles east of Moscow, over the weekend to observe the destruction of mobile SS-24 and SS-25 ICBMs (see GSN, June 16; David Holley, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 16).

Lugar has warned that Russia’s reluctance to allow U.S. inspectors to visit biological weapons sites could jeopardize continued funding for the threat reductions programs, according to the Miami Herald (see GSN, March 24).

“Russia’s denials with regard to the biological situation offer an avenue where opponents of spending money can say, ‘See, we still really don’t know,’” Lugar said.  “Some members of Congress say, ‘Is Russia complying, literally, to the dotted line, with all the arms control treaties?’” he said.

“It’s not useful to set up conditions in which there has to be 100 percent compliance before we do anything,” Lugar said.

Lugar said he recently met with U.S. President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to seek a presidential waiver that would remove some of the restrictions that some members of Congress want to attach to funding for the threat reduction programs.  Lugar said Friday that he was optimistic that Bush would issue the waiver (Mark McDonald, Miami Herald, Aug. 18).

[EDITOR'S NOTE:  Richard Lugar is on the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.]

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North Korea:  Pyongyang Uses Covert Approach to Acquire WMD-Related Items

In recent years, North Korea has sought to further its WMD aims by covertly importing related goods and technologies from abroad, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Aug. 13).

The interception earlier this year of a shipment of high-strength aluminum tubes, which could be used to build uranium enrichment centrifuges, helps to illustrate North Korea’s covert purchases, according to the Post.  In early April, the French cargo ship Ville de Virgo docked in Hamburg, where it picked up a shipment of 214 high-strength aluminum tubes apparently purchased by the Chinese Shenyang Aircraft Corp.  Shortly after the ship left Hamburg, however, German intelligence officials learned that the true destination for the tubes was North Korea for use in its nuclear weapons program, the Post reported.

In mid-April, French and German authorities tracked the Ville de Virgo to the eastern Mediterranean and captured the tubes, according to the Post.  German police arrested the owner of a small export firm and discovered plans for North Korea to obtain as many as 2,000 high-strength aluminum tubes, which could have given Pyongyang the ability to produce as many as 3,500 gas centrifuges if it had succeeded, the Post reported.

“The intentions were clearly nuclear,” said a Western diplomat familiar with the investigation.  “The result could have been several bombs’ worth of weapons-grade uranium in a year,” the diplomat said.

Also in early April, a cargo ship left the Japanese port of Kobe Harbor with direct-current stabilizers, which are also used to enrich uranium, according to the Post.  The stabilizers were being shipped to Thailand, where they were then set to be sent to North Korea, the Post reported.  In mid-May, a German manufacturer sold 33 tons of sodium cyanide, which can be used to make tabun, to a buyer believed to be a company based in Singapore (see GSN, May 19).  That shipment as well was to be diverted to North Korea.  Both transfers, however, were blocked.

“There are countries in the world where you can pay $2,000 to a government minister and he’ll sign anything — and then confirm to you that he signed it,” said Rastislav Kacer, a former Slovak deputy defense minister who helped lead an investigation into a covert attempt by North Korea to buy sophisticated radar equipment.  “Documents that are fake can be made to appear very real,” Kacer added (Joby Warrick, Washington Post, Aug. 15).

Covert Missile Sales

As part of its efforts to generate badly needed hard currency, North Korea allegedly exports ballistic missile-related items and technologies covertly, according to the Washington Post. 

For example, in late June 1999, Indian authorities searched the North Korean freighter Kuwolsan while it was docked in the port of Kandla.  Inside boxes labeled “water refinement equipment,” they found a cache of missile-related items, such as tips of nose cones, machine tools and guidance systems, according to the Post.  They also found in other crates a large number of blueprints for Scud ballistic missiles.  The intended destination of the missile-related items was Libya, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

“In the past we had seen missiles or engine parts, but here was an entire assembly line for missiles offered for sale,” an Indian official said.  “This was a complete technology transfer,” the official said.

The missile-related cargo onboard the Kuwolsan might not have been discovered had the ship’s crew not tried to make extra money by picking up a cargo of sugar, according to documents and interviews with officials.  Soon after leaving the North Korean port of Nampo, the ship traveled to two Thai ports to pick up 14,000 tons of sugar to sell along the way, according to records.  When an attempt to sell the sugar to some Algerians collapsed, the ship decided to sell it to an Indian company, requiring the stop at Kandla.

While the ship was sailing to the Indian port, Indian customs officials learned that it might be carrying contraband, according to the Post.  The ship was suspected of carrying weapons or ammunition, possibly to Pakistan.  When the ship arrived in Kandla, Indian port officials were waiting, the Post reported.

“It was crazy,” an Indian investigator said.  “If you’re carrying 200 tons of sensitive equipment, you don’t go picking up extra cargo left and right,” the investigator said (Joby Warrick, Washington Post, Aug. 14).

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Iraq:  U.S. Troops Will Stay Until WMD Programs Found, Armitage Says

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. military forces will stay in Iraq until former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s alleged WMD capabilities are found and destroyed, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 12).

Speaking yesterday to the Asia Society Forum in Sydney, Armitage said he had “absolute confidence” that coalition forces in Iraq would find evidence of Hussein’s suspected WMD programs.  The absence of weapons discoveries so far only demonstrates the great lengths Hussein went to to hide WMD programs, he said.

“The fact that it has taken us this long to find the evidence is a chilling reminder that these programs are far too easy to move, and, I believe, far too easy to hide,” Armitage said.

Armitage also praised the efforts of former U.N. weapons inspector David Kay, who is now heading the Iraq Survey Group, which is conducting the WMD hunt in Iraq.  While Kay has made “solid progress,” he too has found that “deception and concealment were an extensive and embedded part” of Iraq’s WMD efforts, Armitage said.

It will take time to find Iraq’s WMD capabilities, including the scientists and equipment used to produce weapons of mass destruction, Armitage said.  U.S. troops will remain in Iraq, however, until they are found, he said.

“[U.S.] President [George W.] Bush has made it crystal clear that we don’t intend to stay in Iraq any longer than is necessary, but I will make it crystal clear to you today that we are not going to leave until we find and destroy Iraq’s capability to produce biological, chemical and nuclear weapons,” Armitage said.

Proliferation Security Initiative

In his remarks yesterday, Armitage also said there is a need for new measures to combat the transfer of goods and technologies that could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction.  One such measure is the Proliferation Security Initiative, an 11-member effort to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo (see GSN, Aug. 6).

As part of the initiative, Australia is expected to hold a naval exercise next month to develop interdiction capabilities, Armitage said.  He added that the United States would take part in the exercise, which could also include Italy, Germany and Japan.

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