The United States should reinforce its commitment to securing WMD materials in Russia through such programs as building this fissile materials storage facility at Mayak, according to the recently retired director of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program (DTRA). More “Cooperation” Needed for Cooperative Threat Reduction, Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Senior Bush administration officials must work harder to encourage U.S.-Russian cooperation on securing and disposing of Russia’s massive unconventional weapons capabilities, a former Bush administration official said yesterday...Full Story

Bush Rejects North Korean Demands U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday rejected an offer from North Korea to freeze its nuclear weapons program in exchange for extensive economic and diplomatic concessions from the United States (see GSN, Dec. 9)...Full Story

Iranian Leaders Approve Signing Nuclear Protocol Top Iranian officials last week authorized the signature of the Iran’s Additional Protocol to its international nuclear safeguards agreement, which would allow more intrusive monitoring of Tehran’s nuclear activities, an Iranian spokesman said today (see GSN, Dec. 8)...Full Story

U.N. Deadlock Continues Over Two Terrorism Treaties By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — The General Assembly yesterday decided to continue work next year on two incomplete terrorism treaties, confirming that the deadlock in negotiations has not been broken...Full Story

	Wednesday, December 10, 2003

U.N. Deadlock Continues Over Two Terrorism Treaties By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — The General Assembly yesterday decided to continue work next year on two incomplete terrorism treaties, confirming that the deadlock in negotiations has not been broken. The two draft treaties — a comprehensive convention and one against nuclear terrorism — have been under negotiation for almost 10 years. Most articles of the drafts are completed, but finalization has been held up over how broadly the label “terrorist” can be applied to self-determination movements and national armed forces. The assembly adopted a resolution to continue negotiations, recommended by its Legal Committee, by consensus without debate. The resolution “strongly condemns all acts … of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed.” It also cites the numerous conventions and Security Council resolutions on combating terrorism, and calls for further negotiations on the two drafts next year, but nothing in the resolution advances the debate over the treaties. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, and the subsequent Security Council Resolution 1373 that committed countries to combat terrorism, diplomats thought there was a political momentum to break the logjam and complete the treaties, thus creating a network of 14 conventions dealing with various aspects of terrorism. But that did not happen. “We had great hopes” in the autumn of 2001 for the two texts, said U.N. Legal Counsel Hans Corell at a news conference early this fall. “There were intense negotiations,” he said. “From a legal point of view, I think they have the solution, basically it is the question of the definition of terrorism ... but then something happened, the political climate suddenly changed.” “If you study the question more closely, you will end up in the Middle East,” said Corell, a reference to the deteriorating situation between Israel and the Palestinians at that time. In October of this year, a subcommittee of the Legal Committee resumed work on the two texts. Subcommittee Chairman Ambassador Rohan Perera of Sri Lanka reported to the committee that “substantial differences persisted” over the comprehensive text. Yesterday, Carlos Fernando Diaz Paniagua, a counselor at the Costa Rican mission, who chaired the meetings over the draft said, “We are making slow but steady progress.” He told GSN, “The problem is finding a balanced solution on the role of armed forces and self-determination movements.” The division is the long-standing problem of how — or if — to distinguish between “freedom fighters” and “terrorists.” Common examples are the Palestinians and Kashmiris, the legitimacy of whose violent actions has been divisive for years. There are 12 so-called “sectoral” terrorism treaties that outlaw specific acts, including hijacking an airplane and laundering money), that have been able to avoid defining terrorism since in these treaties terrorism is defined by the act. Since the text of the draft convention is meant to cover all aspects of the problem, the burden of a definition has fallen on these negotiators. A related issue is of one of scope, meaning which individuals and groups of people will be subject to the treaty. The specific problem is whether the actions of armed forces could ever be defined as terrorism, or if their actions are already covered by other instruments of international humanitarian law. Diaz Paniagua said the essential question is, “In what incidents can armed forces acting outside of the territory of the national jurisdiction and acting in a manner not in conformity with international law ... [commit] acts of terrorism?” The remaining substantive issue in the second draft treaty, on the “suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism,” is also the question of how to govern the actions of national armed forces. Definition is not an issue in this case since, like the other sectoral treaties, the act defines the terrorist. Applying the scope of the treaty to armed forces brings into question when, if ever, the use of nuclear weapons is legitimate. While the nuclear draft uses the same language as the comprehensive convention about the treaty not applying to armed forces “inasmuch as they are governed by other rules of international law,” the issue is more complicated because, as arms control experts argue, there is little in international law that specifically regulates the use of nuclear weapons. The committee spent little time on this draft. Delegates said that once the question of scope is settled in the comprehensive treaty, the same solution can be applied to the nuclear draft.   Another proposal before the committee mentioned in the resolution is the idea of holding a “high-level conference under the auspices of the United Nations to formulate a joint organized response of the international community.” No progress was made on this idea either, delegates said. The subcommittee will meet again in June 2004. Back to top

More “Cooperation” Needed for Cooperative Threat Reduction, Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Senior Bush administration officials must work harder to encourage U.S.-Russian cooperation on securing and disposing of Russia’s massive unconventional weapons capabilities, a former Bush administration official said yesterday. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Kuenning, who until October served as director of Cooperative Threat Reduction program at the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency, made his remarks at a DTRA-cosponsored conference in Alexandria. The program has accomplished much since its creation more than 10 years ago, he said, listing numerous destruction activities posted on the agency’s Web site. Most recently, this week, work will be completed on a new facility for securely storing up to 100 tons of fissile material, he said. In addition, massive work has been completed to upgrade security at two key chemical weapons storage sites and operations there will begin this week, Kuenning said. Kuenning added, though, that the program needs greater support from senior Bush administration officials, comparable to what was received in the nascent days of the program in the early 1990s. A level of “political support and political participation” is needed, he said, akin to “the early years of this program, [where] political appointees were involved in fostering the program and pushing this program forward.” Becoming Coercive, Rather than Cooperative Kuenning said the U.S. approach toward the program following a reported Russian breach of one agreement has been slowing cooperation. He cited an incident reported last year in which the United States contributed $106 million to help Russia build a plant to destroy liquid missile fuel, but later discovered the fuel instead had been used in Russia’s civilian space program (see GSN, March 4). U.S. officials have sought to ensure that such an incident does not happen again, Kuenning said. He said, though, “The reaction to that has been that now we’re trying to get in place for everything a written precise agreement and it is clogging up, constipating cooperation.” “It is becoming a coercive program, rather than a cooperative program. So we need to get cooperation back into the program,” he said. Biological Destruction Greater political involvement is needed in particular on biological weapons destruction activities, Kuenning said. “On the bio side, we need to have quite frankly more political involvement to develop a relationship of cooperation with Russia. … The degree of Russian cooperation is very limited,” he said. The Soviet Union at one point had between 40 and 70 institutes dedicated to biological weapons research and 20,000 people working for the biological weapons industry, he said. “We need to have a diplomatic agreement that allows us to work with these various agencies to accomplish security improvement at these biological sites,” he said. “Plus, we need to have the full gamut of those sites opened up for our cooperation,” he said. Progress has been “relatively modest” on biological activities, he said, with more than $50 million contributed annually by the United States, up from a few million dollars prior to the U.S. mail anthrax attacks in October 2001. Current activities center on supporting projects aimed at fostering peaceful collaboration between U.S. scientists and former Soviet biological weapons laboratories. “The bottom line is there is a lot that has to be done,” he said. Back to top       Bush Set to Sign Syria Sanctions Bill This Week U.S. President George W. Bush is expected this week to sign a bill that would impose economic sanctions against Syria unless it ends its alleged WMD activities and suspected official support for terrorist groups, according to the Boston Globe (see GSN, Nov. 21). Bush is expected to sign the bill, which was overwhelmingly approved by both houses of Congress, before Saturday, Bush administration and congressional officials said yesterday. The bill would prohibit dual-use exports to Syria and would require the president to impose at least two of six additional sanctions laid out in the bill. Bush would have the authority, however, to waive the sanctions if such a move were determined to be in national security interests. U.S. officials and analysts said the sanctions bill represents a new U.S. effort to impose pressure on Syria and that they believe that Bush would impose at least some of the sanctions included in the bill. “(The Syrians) have not been cooperative and this gives the administration the ability to make a statement and levy some sort of sanctions and then ease sanctions when we get positive movement,” said Senator Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), one of the sponsors of the bill. “The president understands why we passed this bill and the importance of it,” he said (Bryan Bender, Boston Globe, Dec. 9). Back to top       United States Formally Implements New Dual-Use Export Controls By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has amended U.S. export control regulations to reflect changes made last year to a multilateral export control agreement intended to regulate the export of dual-use items, according to a notice published today in the Federal Register (see GSN, March 6). The bureau has amended the U.S. Commerce Control List, effective today, to reflect the changes made last year to the control list of the Wassenaar Arrangement — a 33-member export control regime that seeks to control the transfer of dual-use goods by coordinating national export control policies. During a December 2002 plenary meeting held in Vienna, Wassenaar members agreed to a number of revisions to the regime’s control list in several categories of goods and technologies, including advanced materials, electronics, computers and sensors and lasers. Members are meeting this week in Vienna for the 2003 plenary meeting of the regime, a bureau spokesman told Global Security Newswire today. Back to top       Japan to Strengthen Export Controls Japan plans to increase the number of dual-use goods subject to “catch-all provisions” in Japanese export control regulations, the Asahi News Service reported today (see GSN, Oct. 14). Catch-all provisions in Japanese export control regulations apply to a list of dual-use goods maintained by the Japanese trade ministry that are not included in international export control lists, according to the Asahi News Service. In April, the ministry added 30 items to the list. Officials said that a significant number of additional goods is planned to be added to the list (Asahi News Service, Dec. 10). Back to top

Bush Rejects North Korean Demands U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday rejected an offer from North Korea to freeze its nuclear weapons program in exchange for extensive economic and diplomatic concessions from the United States (see GSN, Dec. 9). “The goal of the United States is not for a freeze of the nuclear program,” Bush said. “The goal is to dismantle a nuclear weapons program in a verifiable and irreversible way,” he added. Bush made his comments at a news conference with visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Nuclear disarmament “is the clear message we are sending to the North Koreans,” Bush said. Wen told Bush that it is too early to hold a second round of six-nation talks on the nuclear crisis, a U.S. officials said. “They (the Chinese) indicated that they felt there was a developing consensus on this issue but that we had not yet reached the point where a new round, a second round, of six-party multilateral talks could be convened,” the official said (CNN.com, Dec. 9). Meanwhile, North Korea urged the United States to meet its demands. “We have so far expected that the U.S. administration would answer our magnanimity with good faith,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday. “The U.S. seems to work hard to completely eliminate our nuclear deterrent force by giving just a piece of paper called ‘written security assurances,’” the spokesman added (Korean Central News Agency, Dec. 9). The U.S. State Department, however, said that North Korea’s demands are blocking the path to further negotiations. “Discussion of these matters can take place in the talks themselves. We call on North Korea to drop its preconditions to the talks and to join the other parties as soon as possible,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. “It’s not time for one side, such as the North Koreans, to start making long lists of things that they might demand in advance of the talks,” he added (U.S. State Department release, Dec. 9).   Back to top       Iranian Leaders Approve Signing Nuclear Protocol Top Iranian officials last week authorized the signature of the Iran’s Additional Protocol to its international nuclear safeguards agreement, which would allow more intrusive monitoring of Tehran’s nuclear activities, an Iranian spokesman said today (see GSN, Dec. 8). In October, Iran announced its intention to sign the protocol, but it has not yet done so (see GSN, Oct. 21). “The government has authorized the Foreign Ministry to go ahead with a signature of the Additional Protocol,” said Iranian spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh. “The permission was issued by the Cabinet last week,” he added. Ramezanzadeh did not say when Iran’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency would sign the agreement. “After the signing, it will return to the government for ratification. Then the government will submit it to the parliament in the form of a bill for approval. At the final stage, it has to be ratified by the Guardian’s Council into law,” he said (Associated Press/Arizona Republic, Dec. 10). The council is a 12-member group, dominated by conservative clerics, who determine whether a bill violates the Iranian Constitution and Islamic law (Reuters, Dec. 10). Back to top       London Denies Leaving Nuclear Weapons in South Atlantic The United Kingdom said yesterday that no nuclear weapons were aboard British ships sunk during the 1982 British-Argentine war over the Falkland Islands. Argentina demanded an explanation of whether any nuclear weapons were sunk in its territorial waters after reports emerged this week that British ships were armed with nuclear weapons at the time of the conflict (see GSN, Dec. 8). In a note delivered to the Argentine Foreign Ministry, British Ambassador to Argentina Robin Christopher said that all of the nuclear weapons onboard ships in the task force had been returned to the United Kingdom in good condition. Christopher also said that there had been no radiation leaks during the deployment (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 10). Back to top       Malaysia to Establish Nuclear Testing Monitoring Station Malaysia, a member of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, plans to establish a nuclear testing monitoring station by June 2004, the Kuala Lumpur Star reported today (see GSN, April 15). The station is to be created by the Malaysian Institute of Nuclear Technology (MINT) Research and is estimated to cost about $400,000, according to the Star. The station will be used to detect the presence of radioactive particles in the air, and if activities are detected, to transmit information to the CTBT Organization in Vienna, said MINT Director General Ahmad Sobri Hashim (Kuala Lumpur Star, Dec. 10). Back to top       Los Alamos Discloses Another Security Lapse Los Alamos National Laboratory announced yesterday that the nuclear weapons facility has suffered a security lapse after officials discovered they were missing 10 computer disks containing classified information (see GSN, Oct. 7). The loss of the disks at Los Alamos’ new Nonproliferation and International Security Center is “unacceptable,” according to senior laboratory officials. Los Alamos officials played down the possibility of a leak in national security information, saying that the disks were probably improperly destroyed. “While the destruction of the materials was not properly recorded and documentation maintained, resulting in inventory anomalies, to date these investigative efforts support the likelihood that the missing media were destroyed prior to the move to the security facility,” the laboratory said in a release (George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, Dec. 10). The disclosure came on the eve of a meeting to discuss whether the management of the laboratory — long under the purview of the University of California — should be opened for competition (Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, Dec. 10). Robert Foley, the University of California’s new vice president for laboratory management, ordered the laboratory to “stand down” certain operations while employees are retrained in procedures for handling classified material. The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the laboratory, said it was “disturbed that, after all of the revelations and reviews about security and document control over the past few years, laboratory employees still have not learned to manage their classified media properly” (Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 10). Back to top

U.S. Scientists Successfully Test Ebola Vaccine On Mice Scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have successfully immunized mice against the highly infectious Ebola disease, which has been viewed as a potential biological weapon, BBC News reported today (see GSN, Nov. 19). The vaccine used in the study was made from virus-like particles (VLPs), which resemble the outer covering of the Ebola virus and can trigger a human immune system response, but lack the genetic material needed for reproduction, according to BBC News. Mice were vaccinated with the VLPs at three-week intervals and then exposed to Ebola six weeks after the last inoculation, with a result of full protection against the disease Scientists are now expected to begin testing the vaccine on primates (BBC News, Dec. 10). Back to top

Taiwan Persists on Chinese Missile Referendum Despite U.S. Opposition Chinese President Chen Shui-ban said today that he still plans to hold a referendum next year on whether to demand the removal of Chinese ballistic missiles currently targeting the island, despite opposition stated yesterday by U.S. President George W. Bush (see GSN, Dec. 9). After meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday at the White House, Bush said the United States opposed “any unilateral decision by either China or Taiwan to change the status quo.” “The comments and actions made by the leader of Taiwan indicate that he may be willing to make decisions unilaterally to change the status quo, which we oppose,” Bush said. Analysts said Bush’s remarks were the harshest directed toward a Taiwanese leader in decades, according to CNN.com. Wen said that he “appreciated” Bush’s statement. Today, however, Chen said that he would still continue with the referendum, scheduled to be held in March. “A defensive referendum is for avoiding war and to help keep the Taiwanese people free of fear,” Chen said at a meeting with U.S. Representative Dan Burton (R-Ind.) in Taipei. “We have no intention to change the status quo, but nor do we allow the status quo being forced to change. We want to maintain a status quo of peace and stability instead of one of missile deployment and military threat,” Chen said (CNN.com, Dec. 10). Back to top

Northrop Grumman Plans Five Mobile Launchers for MDA U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman is planning to build five mobile launchers as part of a eight-year, $4.5 billion missile defense contract with the Missile Defense Agency, Inside Missile Defense reported today (see GSN, Dec. 4). The U.S. Defense Department announced Dec. 3 that a Northrop Grumman-Raytheon team had won the competition to develop a Kinetic Energy Interceptor which is intended to destroy enemy missiles in their boost phase. Each of the mobile launchers will carry two of the kinetic interceptors, company officials said. The contract calls for Northrop to demonstrate the interceptor by 2009, according to an MDA spokesman. Northrop Grumman chief executive Ron Sugar said that he expects the Pentagon to make an initial payment of $56 million in fiscal 2004 to get the program running (Thomas Duffy, Inside Missile Defense, Dec. 10). Back to top       Lockheed Wins Targets Contract The U.S. Missile Defense Agency yesterday awarded defense contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems a contract to produce targets and countermeasures for missile defense testing (see GSN, Dec. 9). The contract could last up to 10 years and be worth as much as $4.6 billion (U.S. Defense Department release, Dec. 9). The award provides some good news to Lockheed Martin, which last week lost a contract to develop a Kinetic Missile Interceptor. The Pentagon awarded that contract to Northrop Grumman (see GSN, Dec. 4). “They all get their turn,” said financial analyst Paul Nisbet, of JSA Research in Rhode Island (Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News/Denver Post, Dec. 10).   Back to top

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