The Department of Energy displayed Libyan centrifuge equipment and a uranium hexafluoride container in March after the shipment arrived at the Y-12 facility in Tennessee. The International Atomic Energy Agency now suspects that 2 tons of uranium came from North Korea, U.S. officials and European diplomats said (DOE Photo). North Korea Suspected of Selling Uranium to Libya The International Atomic Energy Agency has found strong evidence in recent weeks that a container of uranium hexafluoride surrendered by Libya this year originated in North Korea, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, May 21). Basing their conclusions on interviews with members of Abdul Qadeer Khan’s underground nuclear network, inspectors discovered evidence that North Korea secretly provided Libya with nearly 2 tons of uranium in early 2001, according to U.S. officials and European diplomats familiar with the intelligence...Full Story

United States, Russia Need to Do More to Secure Nuclear Materials, Harvard Researchers Say By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States must do more to quickly secure stockpiles of nuclear weapons and fissile materials in Russia and other countries to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists, according to a report released today by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (see GSN, May 14)...Full Story

Chalabi Denies Providing False Iraqi WMD Data By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Ahmad Chalabi, the head of a former Iraqi opposition group that has come under intense criticism for its role leading to the Iraq war and its aftermath, denied yesterday that his organization provided false information on one of the main U.S. rationales for the invasion — Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, May 19)...Full Story

	Monday, May 24, 2004

Chalabi Denies Providing False Iraqi WMD Data By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Ahmad Chalabi, the head of a former Iraqi opposition group that has come under intense criticism for its role leading to the Iraq war and its aftermath, denied yesterday that his organization provided false information on one of the main U.S. rationales for the invasion — Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, May 19). During an appearance on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Chalabi said the Iraqi National Congress only “introduced” three defectors to U.S. agencies at the agencies’ request, Chalabi said, and that it had been the responsibility of those agencies to verify any information. “It was up to them to analyze this and the responsibility for reporting to the president after analyzing the information is not mine, neither is it the INC’s. It is the job of the adviser to the president on intelligence and it is the responsibility of the CIA,” he said. Among the allegations leveled at Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress is that the group provided the Bush administration with Iraqi defectors who gave inaccurate information. For example, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week that one such defector, Adnan Ihsan Saeed al-Haideri, who claimed to have worked at WMD-related sites near Baghdad, was unable to identify any such locations during a visit to Iraq earlier this year with members of the Iraq Survey Group. In a more publicized case, Chalabi’s group has also been linked to the Iraqi defector known as “Curveball,” who reports say was the primary source for the Bush administration’s claims that Iraq possessed mobile biological weapons facilities before the war. The Los Angeles Times reported in March that after U.N. weapons inspectors asked Chalabi for help in finding information on the theorized facilities, Curveball, an engineer in a German refugee camp, came forward and said he had worked on developing mobile biological facilities.  Curveball’s claims were provided to the United States through German intelligence and U.S. intelligence agencies were unable to have direct access to the defector. According to the Times, though, the CIA later learned that Curveball was the brother of a top aide to Chalabi, leading to suspicions that the source might have provided false information. Earlier this month on NBC’s Meet the Press, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who included the mobile biological facility claim in his February 2003 address to the U.N. Security Council on Iraq’s alleged WMD efforts, said that some of the sources for the information used in his presentation had been “deliberately misleading.” On Meet the Press yesterday, though, Chalabi denied that he or the opposition group had any connection to the defector known as Curveball and said that he was prepared to defend his innocence before Congress. “We are mystified by this information. We are mystified by who this person is and who he is the brother of. We’ve been looking very actively to find out, but we still have not found out,” Chalabi said. “We don’t know who Curveball is. That is part of the charges.  Let them bring their files. I’m prepared to go to Congress,” he added. Chalabi also denied that the INC provided the Bush administration with false information in an attempt to provoke war, noting that the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act set regime change in Baghdad as U.S. national policy. “Our focus was not weapons of mass destruction. Our focus was the suffering of the Iraqi people and the liberation of Iraq,” he said. “We did not drive the United States towards war in Iraq. We were seeking the liberation of our country, and the United States decided for its own security and strategic purposes to help the Iraqi people liberate themselves,” he added. On CBS’s Face the Nation, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) called Chalabi a “con man.” “He’s persuaded people in this administration, civilian leaders particularly, … that this information was valid and, in fact, it wasn’t. And that contributed at least to our commitment of forces unilaterally in Iraq,” Reed said. “Chalabi is a promoter and he’s promoting himself. He’s been promoting himself apparently to be the next ruler in Iraq, and that’s been, I think, his attempt all along,” Reed added. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said on Face the Nation that the INC’s reputation among his colleagues was “mixed.” While refusing to comment himself on Chalabi’s credibility, Roberts said that the subject of the intelligence provided by the group would be included in a report on prewar intelligence his committee is set to release next month. “I would like to reserve comment until that report comes out, but there is a school of thought, especially by the CIA, that Mr. Chalabi’s intelligence input was not that good, and that’s probably an understatement,” Roberts said. Back to top       Iraqi Spies for British Intelligence Possessed Little Direct Information on Iraq’s Prewar WMD Efforts The CIA has reportedly determined that two Iraqi defectors who spied for the British intelligence service MI6 had little direct information on Iraq’s prewar WMD efforts, The Scotsman reported today (see related GSN story, today). The Los Angeles Times reported that the CIA determined that information provided by the two “supposedly senior” Iraqis had “fallen apart,” according to the Scotsman. “Neither had direct knowledge of what they claimed. They were describing what they had heard,” a U.S. official was quoted as saying (Kirkup/Massie, The Scotsman, May 24). Back to top       Bioterror Guide to Be Issued to British Doctors The United Kingdom is set to issue to doctors this week a full-color flip-guide on infectious diseases that could be used by terrorists, the London Guardian reported (see GSN, April 23). Called New Diseases, New Threats, the illustrated four-page booklet lists symptoms for infectious illnesses including anthrax, plague and smallpox. It also explains the effects of liquid mustard gas, radiation and West Nile fever. The pamphlet provides a telephone number at the British Defense Ministry for doctors to call if a patient shows “symptoms or signs that are difficult to explain” (Giles Foden, The Guardian, May 24). Back to top       U.S. Cities Plan Security at Political Conventions The national Republican and Democratic conventions, scheduled to be held this summer in New York City and Boston respectively, are set to have some of the tightest security ever seen for such events, Cox News Service reported yesterday. A partial list of costs for New York police includes special crowd-control barriers to encircle Madison Square Garden; a television monitoring system; 300 motor scooters; 15 vans; and monitoring devices to detect nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.  Officers already have begun training to deal with WMD attacks and strikes against mass transit The estimated price for security at the Republican convention has reached $76 million, according to the latest estimates. The city will pay at least two-thirds of the cost, with the federal government contributing $25 million. The total estimated bill for the Democratic convention is at $40 million, with the federal government contributing the same amount as toward the Republican event. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has said that the conventions are on a short list of potential high-profile terrorist targets this year (David Ho, Cox News Service/Salt Lake Tribune, May 23). Back to top

North Korea Suspected of Selling Uranium to Libya The International Atomic Energy Agency has found strong evidence in recent weeks that a container of uranium hexafluoride surrendered by Libya this year originated in North Korea, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, May 21). Basing their conclusions on interviews with members of Abdul Qadeer Khan’s underground nuclear network, inspectors discovered evidence that North Korea secretly provided Libya with nearly 2 tons of uranium in early 2001, according to U.S. officials and European diplomats familiar with the intelligence. The cask was sent to the United States by Libya earlier this year as part of Col. Muammar Qadhafi’s agreement to dismantle his nuclear and other WMD programs. At the time, U.S. officials identified Pakistan as the probable source of the materials. The uranium could not be used as nuclear fuel unless it was enriched in centrifuges, which Libya was constructing as part of a $100 million program to purchase equipment from the Khan network. If enriched, the 2 tons could have produced a single nuclear weapon, experts said. North Korea has mines that the Federation of American Scientists has described as “4 million tons of exploitable high-quality uranium.” The IAEA discovery suggests that the communist nation has become a supplier of nuclear technology, the Times reported. Intelligence agencies worldwide are exploring whether North Korea made similar sales to other countries or perhaps even to terrorist organizations, according to the Times. “The North Koreans have been selling missiles for years to many countries,” one senior Bush administration official said recently, referring to the country’s sales to Iran, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and other nations. “Now, we have to look at their trading network in a very different context, to see if something much worse was happening as well,” the official added. IAEA officials hope to confirm the finding with the North Koreans, but since inspectors were evicted on Dec. 31, 2002, there has been minimal contact with the reclusive Pyongyang government (Sanger/Broad, New York Times, May 22). Meanwhile, U.N. envoy Maurice Strong, who returned from North Korea Saturday from a visit on behalf of Secretary General Kofi Annan, said Pyongyang has vowed to move forward with its nuclear programs until it receives security guarantees from the United States, the Associated Press reported. “They look at their nuclear weapons as the best guarantee they have against a threat that they perceive from the United States,” Strong said. “They are going to continue, they say, to develop that capability until there is a security guarantee that they can rely on,” he added (Joe McDonald, Associated Press/San Diego Tribune, May 22). Elsewhere, Russia called for security guarantees and economic aid to North Korea ahead of talks tonight with visiting South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, ITAR-Tass reported. Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said Russia calls for “security guarantees and economic assistance to North Korea with the aim of improving the situation in the Korean Peninsula.” Yakovenko added that Moscow attaches economic and political importance to the trilateral business partnership of Russia, South Korea and North Korea (Valery Agarkov, ITAR-Tass, May 24). Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Saturday after a 90-minute meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il that Kim was prepared to solve the nuclear standoff through the six-party talks, Agence France-Presse reported. “Chairman Kim Jong Il said he aimed to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula,” Koizumi said. “He said he wanted to make efforts towards a peaceful solution by utilizing the six-way talks,” he added. Koizumi said he offered North Korea 250,000 tons of rice and $10 million worth of medical supplies as humanitarian aid (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 22). Back to top       United States, Russia Need to Do More to Secure Nuclear Materials, Harvard Researchers Say By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States must do more to quickly secure stockpiles of nuclear weapons and fissile materials in Russia and other countries to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists, according to a report released today by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (see GSN, May 14). In the two years following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, less nuclear material was adequately secured against potential terrorists than the amount secured in the two years prior to the attacks, says the report, prepared by Harvard University researchers Matthew Bunn and Anthony Wier. In addition, the report criticizes the Bush administration’s funding for nuclear material security efforts, noting that the budget for such efforts from fiscal 2002-2005 was about 15 percent more than the funding level from the end of the Clinton administration. Much of the increase, the report says, came from congressional action and not White House requests. “The facts are that the amount of inadequately secured bomb material in the world today is enough to make thousands of nuclear weapons; that terrorists are actively seeking to get it; and that with such material in hand, a capable and well-organized terrorist group plausibly could make, deliver and detonate at least a crude nuclear bomb capable of incinerating the heart of any major city in the world,” Bunn and Wier wrote.   The report identifies three areas of concern where “urgent action” is needed to protect weapon-grade materials — Russia, research reactors in use around the world and Pakistan. While noting the improved economic and security situation in Russia, the report warns that weapon-grade material there still remains vulnerable to would-be terrorists. Bunn and Wier cite Russian media reports that the Chechen militants who seized a Moscow theater and hundreds of hostages in October 2002 had initially considered capturing a Moscow site that possessed highly enriched uranium. The report also warns of continued security problems at Russian nuclear sites, noting a security manager at the Seversk nuclear material processing facility who reported that guards there regularly conduct patrols without ammunition in their guns to prevent accidental firings. According to the report, U.S.-funded security and accounting upgrades were conducted on 35 tons of Russian nuclear material in fiscal 2003. That amount represents only 6 percent of the estimated 600 tons of vulnerable Russian material, the report says, adding that at the pace of 35 tons per year, it will take 13 years from now to complete security upgrades on all vulnerable materials within the former Soviet Union. “Until that time, the world is relying, without transparency or confidence, on whatever security improvements Russia is able to afford on its own,” the report says. In addition to nuclear materials in Russia, about 20 metric tons of highly enriched uranium is used as fuel in civilian research reactors around the world, according to the report. Warning of relatively low security at many facilities, the report says that research reactor fuel elements are small enough to be easily stolen by terrorists and that information on extracting uranium from the fuel elements is available in open literature (see GSN, April 15). Concerns surrounding Pakistan, according to the report, are based less on the security of its guarded nuclear facilities than on the “very, very high” threat posed by both nuclear personnel who may be sympathetic to radical Islamic militants and by remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taliban operating within the country. As an example of the insider threat, the report notes top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who was highly respected for his role as the “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program and who confessed earlier this year to transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Recommendations In their report, Bunn and Wier called for “sustained presidential leadership” to help quickly and effectively secure stockpiles of nuclear materials. The report calls on U.S. President George W. Bush to issue a new presidential directive that would label the securing of nuclear material worldwide as a top national priority and would set targets of securing all nuclear weapons and fissile materials in the former Soviet Union within four years and worldwide within six years. In addition, Bush should launch a “global cleanout” program to quickly remove weapon-grade materials from the most vulnerable sites around the world and should appoint a senior high-level official “with full-time responsibility” to oversee all nuclear material security efforts. Already, some action has been taken on the report’s recommendation of a “global cleanout” program. The U.S. Senate voted last week to amend the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill that would authorize funding for such a program. A set of new nuclear nonproliferation measures expected to be announced this week by U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is also anticipated to include a cleanout program (see GSN, May 20). The report also calls on Russian President Vladimir Putin to implement several necessary measures, such as enshrining nuclear material security as part of Russia’s national security policy, appointing a senior-level official to oversee nuclear material security efforts, assigning adequate funding resources and working to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles to U.S.-Russian security cooperation (see GSN, May 10). The report also envisions a role for the remainder of the Group of Eight economic powers, which in 2002 initiated the Global Partnership to pledge $20 billion over 10 years for nonproliferation efforts, primarily in Russia. The G-8, which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, should use a summit set to be held next month in the United States to expand the Global Partnership to secure nuclear material stockpiles wherever they may be located in the world, the report says (see GSN, April 27).  In a telephone interview today, Bunn told Global Security Newswire that the three most essential recommendations were the fast elimination of vulnerable stockpiles of nuclear materials, Russian presidential-level efforts to improve cooperation with the United States and the creation of new partnerships with other countries to address materials not in Russia or covered by a global cleanout program. While both Bush and Putin are “genuinely concerned” about the possibility of terrorists obtaining nuclear weapons, many policy-makers around the world hold to a set of “myths” as to how terrorists might acquire nuclear weapons, Bunn said. For example, Bush has suggested in public statements that the main way terrorists might obtain a nuclear weapons is through a rogue state, Bunn said. The report illustrates that terrorists are more likely to obtain such weapons through a failure by states to adequately protect warheads and materials.  [EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by National Journal Group.] Back to top       U.S., IAEA Dispute Plans for Iraqi Uranium The United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency are debating U.S. intentions to remove more than 500 tons of uranium from Iraq, the New York Times reported Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 7, 2003). The United States has informed the agency of its plans to remove the uranium, stored at the Tuwaitha nuclear complex south of Baghdad, to a location outside of Iraq, Western diplomats said. The material includes 500 tons of slightly processed uranium ore called yellowcake and about 2 tons of low-enriched uranium, according to the Times. None of the uranium has been enriched to the point where it could be used in a nuclear weapon. If moved, the material would probably be transported to a secure repository within the United States, according to nuclear experts. An official with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad confirmed that a proposal to remove the uranium was under consideration, according to the Times. “The story I’ve heard is that no decision has been made as yet,” the official said. “That was some months ago.  When it was discussed, the view was that it was just too expensive to ship. I doubt that anything has changed,” the official added. The International Atomic Energy Agency, however, views the uranium as Iraqi property and believes that the agency cannot give permission for its removal from the country, a diplomat said. The diplomat also said that the United States was likely to move ahead with the plan regardless of the IAEA position, adding that U.S. officials discussed the proposal earlier this year with the agency before increased instability occurred in Iraq. “I think that if the stuff had not gone up in intensity … they would already have moved on this,” the diplomat said (James Glanz, New York Times, May 22). Back to top       Iran Delivers Nuclear Report to IAEA Iran delivered a lengthy report on its nuclear activities Friday to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog announced (see GSN, May 21). The report is an essential component of the agency’s inspections and evaluation process in advance of a meeting next month in which it will hand down its latest assessment of Iran’s nuclear activities, according to the Associated Press. The agency will assess the “correctness and completeness” of the materials turned over by Iran, and IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is set to deliver a report to the organization’s board of governors at its June 14 meeting, IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said (Associated Press/Columbia Daily Tribune, May 23). Diplomats said the report was delivered too late for the agency to fully analyze the 1,000-page document prior to the meeting, according to Agence France-Presse. One diplomat explained that the technical analyses and follow-up tests necessary to verify the materials could take between six months and one year (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 22). Elsewhere, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi warned that a breakdown in cooperation over the nuclear issue could harm the agency and European Union, Agence France-Presse reported. “The European side has not forgotten its commitments towards Iran’s nuclear case, this is a common project, that is, if Iran fails, the EU and the IAEA will suffer losses as well,” Kharazi was quoted as saying by the Iranian student news agency ISNA today. During a visit in October to Iran by British, French and German foreign ministers, Tehran promised full transparency and cooperation with the nuclear agency. In exchange, Iranian officials have said they expect the European Union to oppose U.S. pressure to take Iran’s case to the U.N. Security Council, according to Agence France-Presse. “We intend to show our transparency and goodwill by handing in this 1,000 page report, and gradually everyone will realize that Iran means to use the nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has no secret plans,” Kharazi said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, May 24). Back to top       Pakistan Hopes Peace Dialogue With India Will Remain on Track, Pakistani Foreign Minister Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Pakistan hopes the new Indian government led by the Congress party will continue with a peace dialogue orchestrated by former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s foreign minister said Friday (see GSN, May 18). In January, Musharraf and Vajpayee announced the launch of a joint dialogue intended to resolve several outstanding issues between the two nuclear-armed rivals, including the disputed region of Kashmir. Earlier this month, though, Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was defeated by the Congress party in national parliamentary elections. As a result, Vajpayee stepped down as prime minister and the position has been filled by Manmohan Singh. The change in Indian leadership has affected India and Pakistan’s plans to hold this week talks on nuclear confidence-building measures, according to reports. The Gulf News reported today that India delayed the talks because an external affairs minister has yet to be named. During remarks Friday at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said that he hoped the Congress party would continue with the peace dialogue established by its predecessor. So far, the new Indian government has made “promising statements” regarding the dialogue, Kasuri said. In a brief reply to written questions posed by Global Security Newswire soon after the Indian elections, the Indian Embassy in Washington said the Congress party had made clear its desire to pursue strong relations with Pakistan. “There is consensus on major foreign policy issues … so I think the rest of the world need not have any anxiety about India at all,” an embassy spokesman said. Kasuri on Friday also called on the BJP, which retains a sizable presence in the Indian Parliament, to not establish “roadblocks” to the dialogue. He added, though, that senior Indian officials had indicated that the party remained committed to the dialogue. In a telephone interview with GSN earlier this month, Michael Krepon, founding president of the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, speculated that the BJP could change its stance on the dialogue if the new government was seen to be making progress. In a prepared text distributed after his remarks Friday, Kasuri said that the dialogue must move beyond the issue of nuclear risk reduction to address “the real issues” between the two countries, primarily Kashmir. “We must realize that CBMs are not an end in themselves,” Kasuri said in his prepared statement. Krepon told GSN, though, that Pakistan has indicated a willingness to relax its past policy of requiring progress on Kashmir before agreeing to implement nuclear risk reduction measures. The change in Islamabad’s position, he said, resulted from the scandal surrounding the nuclear proliferation activities of top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The Khan scandal has forced Pakistan to demonstrate that it is “responsible concerning nuclear issues,” Krepon said. Back to top       Nuclear Smuggling Case Illustrates Trafficking U.S. authorities contend that the case of Asher Karni, an Israeli businessman accused of trying to sell nuclear components to an associate in Pakistan, offers insight into the international network of nuclear trafficking, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 20). “There are Iranian networks, Chinese networks, Middle East networks, sophisticated networks buying technology and parts all over the world,” said a senior official at the U.S. Homeland Security Department. “They’re operating in the United States every day. Some of them are family businesses, where fathers pass it on to their sons,” the official added. Officials said the Karni case is an example of what they believe is an international network of entrepreneurs, transporters, scientists, manufacturers, government agents, organized-crime syndicates and possibly terrorists, the Times reported. One network was discovered early this year when Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan confessed to selling nuclear weapons programs to Iran, Libya and North Korea (see GSN, Jan. 28). “This is another piece in the global puzzle of suppliers and buyers, middlemen and [front companies] all over the planet,” said Representative Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, who added that he was not commenting on Karni’s guilt or innocence. “The problem was hardly created on Sept. 11. But the stark reality of it and the unspeakable consequences of it have now gripped policy-makers,” he added. Karni is suspected of trying to ship to Pakistan up to 200 triggered spark gaps, dual-use items that could be used as nuclear detonators. He is charged with violating the federal Export Control Act and other laws; federal authorities have kept Karni in custody since his arrest, arguing that he is a flight risk and a national security threat. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison (Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, May 24). Back to top

Deseret Depot Investigating Vapor Leak Officials are investigating how a small amount of VX nerve agent vapor leaked into a laboratory last week at the Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah, the Deseret Morning News reported (see GSN, May 4). An alarm went off Tuesday at 2:40 p.m., just after two monitoring technicians left the Agent Vault Room of the Chemical Assessment Laboratory, said depot spokesman Chuck Sprague.  Everyone in the lab put on gas masks and was escorted from the building, located one mile west of the U.S. Army’s chemical weapons incinerator. The Army temporarily shut down all operations involving toxic material at the facility while the event was under investigation, Sprague added in a press release. No munitions are stored in the room, but it does have small vials of VX nerve agent used for testing (Joe Bauman, Deseret Morning News, May 21). Back to top       Philippine Police Find Chemical Weapons Information in Hands of Abu Sayyaf Militants Philippine police have found chemical weapons-related information in the possession of suspected Islamic militants, Philippine National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 23, 2003). In March, authorities arrested six suspected Abu Sayyaf militants and confiscated “readings on biological and chemical warfare,” Gonzales said. He likened the information to an “anarchist handbook” rather than military documents.  “It doesn’t mean they have the capability (for chemical weapons) and are already manufacturing them,” Gonzales said (Agence France-Presse/Manila Times, May 22).   Back to top

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