U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with European Union officials yesterday and afterward criticized their strategy for addressing Iran’s nuclear program (AFP/Getty). Powell Calls Draft European Resolution on Iran Inadequate As international nuclear officials prepared to talk with the once-secret suppliers of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday said a draft European resolution on addressing Iran’s nuclear activities was “not adequate,” according to reports (see GSN, Nov. 18)...Full Story

Senior U.S. Diplomat Visits Beijing for Talks on North Korea The top U.S. envoy to Asia arrived in Beijing last night for meetings on next month’s expected talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Nov. 18)...Full Story

Russia Decommissions Two Former Chemical Weapons Production Sites Russia has demilitarized two former chemical weapons production plants in the cities of Novocheboksarsk and Volgograd, Interfax reported Monday (see GSN, Nov. 18). ..Full Story

	Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Powell Calls Draft European Resolution on Iran Inadequate As international nuclear officials prepared to talk with the once-secret suppliers of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday said a draft European resolution on addressing Iran’s nuclear activities was “not adequate,” according to reports (see GSN, Nov. 18). France, Germany and the United Kingdom prepared a resolution for consideration by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, which is due to begin discussing the issue tomorrow. The draft resolution criticizes Iran for a long history of concealing its nuclear development, but does not direct the agency to send the matter to the U.N. Security Council, according to Reuters. “The resolution that I was aware (of) being presented by the EU three was not adequate,” Powell said. “It did not have the trigger mechanisms in the case of further Iranian intransigence or difficulty,” he added (Long/Charbonneau, Reuters, Nov. 18). IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, meanwhile, said recently that his agency knows where Iran secretly obtained equipment for its nuclear development. “We know where the components that Iran says were contaminated came from. Our next priority is to go after the countries where they came from and talk to the governments. There are five, in Europe and Asia,” he said (Time, Nov. 24). On the IAEA debate, Powell said Washington might urge the board to produce no resolution at all if nations cannot agree on strong language. “The fact of the matter is that Iran has been in noncompliance,” Powell said. “We’ll be in discussion with our EU colleagues and other members of the IAEA as to whether or not the resolution is strong enough to convey to the world the difficulties we’ve had with Iran over the years,” he added. Iran urged the IAEA Board of Governors not to bend to U.S. lobbying. “America should abandon such useless pressures and stop imposing its ideas on the agency,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said (Long/Charbonneau, Reuters). ElBaradei said that U.S. officials need to allow U.N. inspectors resolve the questions over Iran’s controversial nuclear program. “Unless you are ready to bomb your way through every country you suspect of developing weapons of mass destruction, I see no alternative to international inspectors. The lesson of Iraq is that we should be very cautious about jumping to conclusions,” he said (Time). Iran’s top national security official, meanwhile, said that Tehran will not succumb to pressure to permanently abandon its uranium enrichment efforts. “We have said clearly that any phrase in a resolution aimed at transforming the voluntary pledge by Iran to suspend uranium enrichment into a legal obligation will be unacceptable to us,” Hassan Rohani said today (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 19). Acknowledging that Iran’s past nuclear activities were “not compatible” with its nonproliferation commitments, the European Union’s chief diplomat, Javier Solana, said that Europe would attempt “constructive engagement” with Tehran over the nuclear issue. European officials yesterday agreed to demand that Iran include a nonproliferation pledge in any future treaties (Christopher Marquis, New York Times, Nov. 19). Russian Atomic Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said that a deal to guarantee the return of spent nuclear fuel from a Russian-built nuclear reactor has been delayed again because Iranian nuclear experts “have no time” to finalize the agreement. “Deliveries are to begin not earlier than next year; for this reason we have at least three months to prepare for the signing of the agreement,” he said (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press, Nov. 19). Back to top       Senior U.S. Diplomat Visits Beijing for Talks on North Korea The top U.S. envoy to Asia arrived in Beijing last night for meetings on next month’s expected talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Nov. 18). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly is on the second leg of a three-nation tour to consult with other parties in the multilateral negotiations. He recently completed talks with Japanese leaders and he is scheduled to travel to Seoul after meeting with Chinese leaders today. “He is meeting members of China’s Foreign Ministry,” said a U.S. embassy spokeswoman in Beijing. “They are discussing issues relevant to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and other bilateral issues,” she added. Kelly is also scheduled to meet with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov next week in Washington (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Nov. 19). Back to top       U.S. Congress Approves Fiscal 2004 Energy Appropriations Bill Both houses of the U.S. Congress yesterday approved the fiscal 2004 energy appropriations bill, which contains millions of dollars of funding for new nuclear weapons efforts, according to AFX News (see GSN, Nov. 6). The House of Representatives voted 387-36 to approve the final version of the bill, and the Senate later approved the bill by a voice vote, AFX News reported. The bill contains $7.5 million for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, $6 million to research new low-yield nuclear weapons and $25 million to prepare the Nevada Nuclear Test site to be able to conduct a nuclear weapons test 24 months after a decision is made to do so (AFX News, Nov. 19). Back to top

First Ebola Vaccine Undergoing Human Trials In U.S. The first volunteer in a pioneering Ebola vaccine trial received a synthetic replica of the deadly virus yesterday at the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Washington (see GSN, Aug. 7). The trial, administered by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will subject 27 volunteers to three injections over three months in the first attempt to ward off the highly infectious disease, which kills between 50 and 90 percent of its victims. U.S. experts fear the disease could be used in a bioterrorist attack, Reuters reported (Reuters, Nov. 18). “People freak out about Ebola,” said NIH’s director of nursing Margaret McCluskey, adding that she has had difficulty finding volunteers for the trial. So far there are only two. McCluskey says she plans to recruit the other 25 volunteers needed for trial from the World Bank, the Peace Corps and other institutions where people are aware of Ebola's toll. Researchers have offered assurances that volunteers will not contract Ebola. The vaccine, made by the San Diego-based biotechnology company Vical, consists of an innovative laboratory-generated duplicate of the virus, minus the key components that trigger illness. Some researchers reportedly consider it the safest vaccine ever made, according to the Washington Post (Rick Weiss, Washington Post, Nov. 19). Monday the World Health Organization announced it was sending epidemiologists to the Republic of the Congo, which has reported 11 Ebola deaths in a new outbreak of the disease. The virus, for which there is no known cure, is named after the river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, where it was discovered in 1976. The worst outbreak of Ebola killed 250 people there in 1995 (Reuters). Back to top       Cuban Officials Say Biotechnology Program Successfully Creates New Medical Products Disputing U.S. charges that Havana is conducting a biological weapons program, Cuban officials have said their biotechnology program has resulted in the creation of new treatments against a wide range of diseases, the Dallas Morning News reported today (see GSN, Nov. 3). Cuba has spent more than $1 billion on its biotechnology program, which has developed dozens of new treatments and vaccines, such as the world’s only vaccine against meningitis B, the Morning News reported. Cuban drugs are now sold in 50 countries, but not the United States because of the U.S. trade embargo against Havana.  Researchers from a number of U.S. institutions, such as Harvard Medical School, have visited and trained at Cuban biotechnology centers, according to the Morning News. Such visits have become “much more difficult,” however, since U.S. President George W. Bush took office, said Gustavo Kouri, director of the Pedro Kouri Institute in Cuba. “This year, Harvard was offering courses on dengue fever, on which Cuba has great experience. Four Cuban scientists were going to go, and there were 60 graduate students waiting for us. But only two were allowed to travel,” Kouri said. U.S. officials, however, have alleged that Cuba is using its biotechnology program to develop biological weapons. Last month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega told a Senate committee that Cuba “has at least a limited, developmental, offensive biological weapons research and development effort and is providing dual-use biotechnology to other rogue states.” Cuban officials have strenuously rejected such allegations, according to the Morning News. Some arms control experts have also said that Cuba would only hurt itself if it used its biotechnology efforts for weapons purposes. “Revelation of a clandestine effort would seriously jeopardize Cuba’s international market aspirations. I can imagine no countervailing strategic benefit that might override that consideration,” said John Steinbruner, director for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland (Tracey Eaton, Dallas Morning News, Nov. 19). Back to top       Advisory Panel Says Vaccines Probably Killed Army Reservist Two civilian review panels have told the U.S. Defense Department that the April death of a 22-year-old Army reservist was apparently caused by an adverse reaction to multiple vaccines she was required to receive, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 21). Rachel Lacy died one month after receiving smallpox, anthrax, hepatitis B, typhoid, measles, mumps and rubella inoculations in one day. Col. John Grabenstein of the Army’s surgeon general’s office said Lacy died of “a complicated illness, diagnosed as ‘like lupus.’” He also said that administering multiple vaccines in one day is an accepted medical procedure, that “it’s considered safe practice” (Donald McNeil, New York Times, Nov. 19). A panel of experts from the official U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and Armed Forces Epidemiology Board said the available information on the case “strongly favors” the theory that Lacy died as a result of the vaccinations. Of five panelists on a Health Resources and Services Administration committee, three said it was “possible” and two said it was “probable” that vaccination caused the death. Neither group cited a specific vaccine as the likely culprit. The military’s vaccination program will not be altered, according to William Winkenwerder, assistant defense secretary for health affairs (David Brown, Washington Post, Nov. 19). Back to top

Russia Decommissions Two Former Chemical Weapons Production Sites Russia has demilitarized two former chemical weapons production plants in the cities of Novocheboksarsk and Volgograd, Interfax reported Monday (see GSN, Nov. 18).  “The production of chemical weapons at these facilities is no longer possible in any form,” said Russian Ammunition Agency Deputy General Director Vyacheslav Kulebyakin (Interfax, Nov. 17). Back to top       Rocket Destruction Reduces Risk to Area Residents, Officials Say Officials at the U.S. Army’s Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah have said the destruction of the last M-55 rocket housed there has eliminated the greatest risk to nearby residents posed by the base’s destruction of chemical weapons, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Nov. 18). The depot Monday completed the destruction of the 3,960 M-55 rockets stored at the base, which had been armed with VX and GB nerve agents, according to AP. Depot Commander Col. Peter Cooper said the destruction of the last rocket was an important milestone. “It shows the world we’re serious about eliminating the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons and protecting Americans from an aging chemical stockpile,” Cooper said (Associated Press/Casper Star-Tribune, Nov. 19). Back to top       U.S. Officials Investigating 2002 Russian Theater Siege U.S. law enforcement officials are investigating last year’s terrorist takeover of a Moscow theater and might bring criminal charges against the suspected Chechen organizers, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Nov. 26, 2002). Sandy Booker, a U.S. citizen from Oklahoma, died in the theater siege when Russian commandos pumped an opiate gas into the theater and stormed the facility. At least 129 of the 800 hostages died, along with all of the hostage-takers. The terrorists had reportedly dispersed explosives throughout the building and were prepared to destroy the entire theater if police attempted to gain entry. Svetlana Gubareva — who was engaged to Booker and was in the theater — testified last week to a federal grand jury in Washington. She told investigators about conversations she had with the suspected ringleader and about the gas that was used to end the 57-hour standoff. U.S. officials would not explain why they were interested in the gas and said that Russian authorities were not being investigated. “We’re trying to determine what the network that funded and authorized the attack was, and we want to see if that road takes us to al-Qaeda. We’re certainly very interested in establishing that link, but we’re not there yet,” a senior FBI official said. Gubareva said that she heard the ringleader speaking in Chechen on a cellular telephone during the siege. “It was quite obvious that he was not making the decisions,” she said. Gubareva, who also lost her daughter during the siege, blamed both Russian officials and Chechen extremists for the deaths. “Russian guilt in this matter is no less than Chechen guilt,” she said (Miller/Lichtblau, New York Times, Nov. 19). Back to top

U.S. Air Force Considering Purchasing Additional SBIRS-High Sensors A senior U.S Air Force official has said the service is considering the purchase two of additional satellites for the Space-Based Infrared System (SBRIS) High program, DefenseNews.com reported today (see GSN, Nov. 3). The additional sensors may be needed to enable the SBIRS-High program to provide long-term coverage of far-northern latitudes, said program manager Col. Mark Borkowski. Buying both systems would cost more than $520 million, according to DefenseNews.com. Borkowski said that if a decision is made to purchase the additional sensors, a major investment would have to be made beginning with the 2006 budget. The Air Force had previously decided to use a separate satellite system, the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (formerly known as SBIRS-Low), to provide long-term coverage of far-northern latitudes, Borkowski said, adding that the future of that program is still uncertain. The Missile Defense Agency plans to launch a system demonstration in 2007 using existing satellite components (Jeremy Singer, DefenseNews.com, Nov. 18). Meanwhile, the MDA is expected to award defense contractor Northrop Grumman Space Technology a contract within the next six months to build at least one new missile-tracking satellite as part of the STSS program, according to Space News. The planned satellite would demonstrate more advanced capabilities than the satellites set to be launched in 2007, said STSS program element manager Air Force Col. Randy Weidenheimer. The contract will be worth “hundreds of millions of dollars,” Weidenheimer said (Warren Ferster, Space News, Nov. 17).   Back to top

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