Iraq:  U.S. Forces Take “Chemical Ali” Into Custody

U.S. forces have taken custody of Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali” for ordering chemical weapons attacks on Kurdish rebels in Northern Iraq in 1998, a senior defense official said today (see GSN, June 6).

Officials have not released details on al-Majid’s capture, according to the Associated Press.  Al-Majid, ranked No. 5 on the U.S. most-wanted list, had previously been thought to have been killed during an airstrike in April (Robert Burns, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 21).

British Dossier

Meanwhile, British documents released yesterday suggest that senior British officials attempted to stop weapons expert David Kelly from discussing his doubts over a September 2002 dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, according to Reuters (see GSN, Aug. 20).

The documents were presented during an inquiry into Kelly’s apparent suicide.  He had been previously identified as the source for a BBC report accusing the British government of exaggerating Iraqi-related intelligence.

According to one of the documents presented at the inquiry, a senior British Defense Ministry official said that during a meeting in British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office a week before Kelly was set to testify before two parliamentary committees, it was discussed that some of Kelly’s views on the dossier could be damaging to the government’s claims, according to Reuters.

For example, Kelly’s testimony could have discredited a claim that the Iraqi military had the ability to deploy biological and chemical weapons within 45 minutes of receiving an order to do so, the official said (Reuters/Los Angeles Times, Aug. 21).

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Iraq I:  Senior Blair Aide Denies Exaggerating Iraqi WMD Capabilities

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s communications director denied yesterday that he exaggerated British intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to bolster a case for war, according to the New York Times (see GSN, Aug. 19).

Alastair Campbell told a British government inquiry that he had headed meetings in which officials revised drafts of a September 2002 dossier on Iraq’s WMD programs but denied that he or other senior Blair aides had had any influence on the final report.  Campbell said he had only advised intelligence officials on the “presentational” aspects of the dossier.

Campbell also said yesterday that, instead of exaggerating the claims made in the dossier, he sought to tone down its language.  “I said the drier the better, cut the rhetoric,” he said.

The BBC had previously reported that Campbell had included in the dossier a claim that the Iraqi military had the capability to deploy biological and chemical weapons within 45 minutes of receiving an order to do so, according to the Times.  Campbell yesterday denied having anything to do with the inclusion of that claim.

“I had no input, output or influence upon them in any stage of the process,” Campbell said of the words used in the dossier (Warren Hodge, New York Times, Aug. 20).

Spanish Assessment of Iraqi WMD Capabilities

Meanwhile, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported Monday that the Spanish Defense Ministry prepared an assessment of Iraqi WMD capabilities in early February. 

The assessment, which was provided to 19 military personnel for use in preparing public statements, said Iraq’s nuclear weapons program was not considered to be significant because of its lack of success and the lack of ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets in Spain.  The assessment did, however, make strong claims about Iraq’s biological and chemical weapons capabilities, including that Iraq possessed stockpiles of smallpox, botulism toxin, aflatoxin and mustard gas (El Pais, Aug. 18 in FBIS-WEU, Aug. 18).

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Iraq II:  World Leaders Condemn U.N. Bombing as Annan Vows to Stay

World leaders denounced yesterday’s bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad that killed at least 20 people, including U.N. special representative in Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello, and wounded at least 100, the Associated Press reported today (Mike Corder, Associated Press/Newsday, Aug. 20).  Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called Vieira de Mello’s death a “bitter blow” to the United Nations but vowed to continue the organization’s work (U.N. release, Aug. 19).

Calling the truck bombing of the Canal Hotel an unprecedented attack against the United Nations, Annan said the attack would not derail the U.N. mission in Iraq.  “We will persevere,” Annan said.  “We will continue.  It is essential work.  We will not be intimidated,” he added (Sameer Yacoub, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 20).

World leaders added their condemnation to Annan’s.  “Acts as odious as this can only prompt indignation and unreserved condemnation,” said French President Jacques Chirac.

“We will not allow terrorists to weaken our resolve in bringing about a better Iraq,” said British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“This criminal ... act should not influence the U.N.’s role in helping the Iraqi people restore their freedom and independence,” said a Syrian Foreign Ministry official (Corder, AP/Newsday).

At U.N. headquarters in New York, some officials and diplomats started to raise questions about the incident and the organization’s role in rebuilding Iraq.

“We are going to want to review our presence in Iraq,” said Shashi Tharoor, U.N. undersecretary general for public information.  “But the secretary general has made it clear that it would be a betrayal of Sergio [Vieira de Mello] not to continue what he lived for.  So there is a reasonable prospect that we will continue, but we will have to review the size of our presence and the way it is deployed,” he added (Felicity Barringer, New York Times, Aug. 19).

Annan met yesterday with the Security Council to discuss security measures to be taken for U.N. workers in Baghdad.  According to Veronique Taveau, spokeswoman for the U.N. humanitarian coordinator, the organization’s operations in the country were temporarily suspended and travel arrangements were being made for workers who wanted to leave the country.

Taveau also said there are many people who are still missing.  The official U.N. figure for the dead is 17, but around 300 U.N. employees were thought to be in the building when the bomb exploded.

Investigations led by FBI agents and Bernard Kerik, the U.S. official responsible for rebuilding the Iraqi police force, have indicated that the attack was a suicide bombing.  Kerik said, however, that it is “much too early” to say whether al-Qaeda was behind the attack.

According to AP, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the United Kingdom and United States are considering a bigger role for the United Nations following the bombing (Yacoub, AP/Yahoo!News).

Yesterday U.N. and U.S. officials blamed each other for the lack of security around the Canal Hotel, where the U.N. offices are located.

“We are entirely in their [the United States’ and their allies’] hands,” U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said.  “The security of everyone in Iraq — Iraqis, the nongovernmental humanitarian workers, the U.N. relief workers — everyone is dependent on the coalition for their security in Iraq.”

A U.S. Defense Department official, however, said  “it was the U.N.’s decision not to have forces there providing protection for that building” (Betsy Pisik, Washington Times, Aug. 20).

O Estado de Sao Paulo reported yesterday that a U.N. spokesperson in Geneva said the lack of security forces to protect the U.N. building in Baghdad was Vieira de Mello’s idea.  According to the spokesperson, the envoy wanted to show Iraqis that the organization was there to support the population, not to occupy the country (Jamil Chade, O Estado de Sao Paulo, Aug. 19, GSN translation).

According to Folha de Sao Paulo, however, the U.N. coordinator in Brazil, Carlos Lopes, said Vieira de Mello was concerned about the lack of security around U.N. headquarters.  Lopes said the envoy recently asked the Security Council to consider security measures in the area because the headquarters was too vulnerable without it (Ricardo Mignone, Folha de Sao Paulo, Aug. 19, GSN translation).

Today, O Estado de Sao Paulo released parts of a telephone interview with Vieira de Mello conducted on Sunday.  The interview was considered by the United Nations to be his last.

When asked if he was concerned with his security in Baghdad, Vieira de Mello said, “there is no doubt the situation here is intense.  But, I don’t know why, I believe that I have been involved in riskier situations.  Here in Baghdad I don’t feel I am in danger like I felt in many other places where I was doing work for the United Nations.”

When asked if the United Nations is a terrorist target, the envoy said, “I don’t think so.  The United Nations is well respected by the population.  The Iraqis see the United Nations as an independent and friendly organization, on the contrary of what they feel about the occupying forces.  They trust our work and they know we are here to help them” (Jamil Chade, O Estado de Sao Paulo, Aug. 20, GSN translation).

Vieira de Mello, a 55-year-old Brazilian, worked for the United Nations for 33 years.  He was the transitional administrator for East Timor following the 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia and a special representative in Kosovo (Paul Maclnnes, London Guardian, Aug. 19).

After being informed about the envoy’s death, Annan issued a statement saying “those who killed him have committed a crime, not only against the United Nations but against Iraq itself.”

“The death of any colleague is hard to bear, but I can think of no one we could less afford to spare, or who would be more acutely missed throughout the U.N. system than Sergio,” Annan added (U.N. release, Aug. 20).

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decreed yesterday a three-day official mourning for Vieira de Mello, saying he was “a victim of insanity of terrorism, especially if we take into consideration that the U.N.’s objective is to maintain peace in the world” (Jornal do Brasil, Aug. 19, GSN translation).

Hussein Vice President Captured

In other news, Pentagon spokeswoman Diane Perry has confirmed that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s former vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, is in U.S. custody.  Ramadan, No. 20 on the U.S. list of the 55 most wanted officials from the former regime, was arrested Monday by U.S. Kurdish allies in northern Iraq.

U.S. President George W. Bush said, “Slowly but surely, we’ll find who we need to find.  It’s just a matter of time.”

Of the 55 most wanted officials from Saddam’s regime, 36 are in custody, 15 remain at large, two have been confirmed dead and two have been reported killed (Associated Press/USA Today, Aug. 19).

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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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