While at least one key al-Qaeda member identified at the scene was killed in yesterday’s madrassa airstrike in the Pakistani North West Frontier Province’s Bajur region, today the Pak Tribune reports Pakistani spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan now claims that there were no Taliban or al-Qaeda terrorists among the 80 reported dead at the site.

But an immediate interview on-scene through NBC News’ Mushtaq Yusufzai clearly indicates otherwise. Yusufzai reported that local al-Qaeda commander Faqir Mohammed was not in the building at the time of the strike, but his deputy, Maulana Liaquat Ali Hussain, was among the dead. He described the madrassa as commonly known and regarded locally as an intensely pro-Taliban center and that Faqir Mohammed had invited al-Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri to what is considered an al-Qaeda-Taliban training center, not a simple unaffiliated school. It was Faqir Mohammed that had invited Zawahiri to a dinner that prompted the US airstrike in Damadola this past January.

The Counterterrorism Blog’s Andrew Cochran says that the strike on the Chingai, Pakistan madrassa has punctured the “Madrassa Myth,” asserting essentially that observers should know better than to believe that the madrassas run by Islamists – especially in the al-Qaeda/Taliban-dominated North West Frontier Province – are run without affiliation to terrorists.

Another Counterterrorism Blog contributing expert, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, cites a US intelligence source that confirms the strike was a US/NATO strike dealt by at least one armed Predator drone and helicopter gunships. There are reports that intelligence indicated that Ayman al-Zawahiri may have been in the building at the time of the strike, but Gartenstein-Ross reports his source as skeptical of such speculation. He notes that the strike comes days before Musharraf’s Pakistani government is due to sign accords with the terrorists in the Bajur region, ceding it to the Taliban-al-Qaeda alliance in similar fashion as it recently agreed to in North Waziristan.

This perhaps explains Major General Sultan’s claims that there were only civilians killed in the strike on the al-Qaeda-run madrassa in Chingai, as it is necessary to maintain positive relations ahead of the accord signing that appears – at least for the moment - on hold. Indeed, thousands of Taliban supporters have staged protests in the Bajur town of Khar, as well as in the nearby city of Peshawar.

By Steve Schippert at 12:35 PM | Permalink

As the senior UN envoy to Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larsen, informs the Security Council that members the Lebanese government have recently “stated publicly and also in conversations with us that there has been arms coming across the border into Lebanon,” the United States is voicing familiar concern that Syria and Iran are trying to destabilize Lebanon. US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said after a closed-door Security Council briefing that Lebanese members of government were providing some information, “But the government was afraid to be specific about these arms coming across the Syrian-Lebanese border because of fear of retaliation.”

The threat perceived by members of the Lebanese government is real and present. Following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a UN commission that has since stalled and faltered has only investigated Syria. In the time that lapsed after the Hariri murder, there were numerous assassinations and assassination attempts against anti-Syrian Lebanese figures in government and media. Lebanese citizens openly accused Syria of attempts to silence Lebanese opposition to Syrian control. (See: ThreatsWatch.Org Multimedia Presentation: Who is Next?)

Along the Lebanon-Israel border, few towns saw as much action and destruction during the Israel-Hizballah conflict this summer than Bint Jbail and the nearby Marjayoun Corridor. London’s Telegraph quoted a Bint Jbail resident who said that Hizballah has been rebuilding under the guise of civilian reconstruction. Like the Lebanese government figures, the individual chose to remain anonymous for safety concerns, but offered that “They are working extremely fast. Militants in Shia strongholds have interconnected tunnels and bunkers under their houses. These are being rebuilt under cover of the reconstruction work.”

Following the ceasefire, Iran was at the forefront offering massive amounts of reconstruction money. The likely principal purpose of that money was not to rebuild the Lebanese civilian infrastructure but, as the Bint Jbail resident indicates, to rebuild Hizballah’s damaged and destroyed positions in and under southern Lebanon.

The resident went on in the Telegraph article to describe the existing security net that Hizballah has deployed to stand watch over the efforts to retake and rebuild its southern Lebanon positions by peppering the areas of operation with watchful eyes with walkie-talkies and motorcycles.

After the ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese government agreed to allow Hizballah to keep their arms so long as they did not carry or display them publicly. The influx of additional UNIFIL forces that came into southern Lebanon to stand as a buffer between Hizballah and the IDF saw its leadership demonstrate no will to disarm Hizballah as called for by the UN Security Council resolution that served as the mandate that brought them to the region.

As a show of force and a likely reminder that IDF and IAF power lies just over the horizon, Israeli jets executed mock raids over Hizballah-dominated areas of south Beirut and the southern Lebanon Hizballah strongholds of Nabatiyeh and Tyre. The Lebanese army said that it had fired anti-aircraft artillery at the four-jet flight, though none were reported damaged. Israeli military officials refused comment.

These developments take place as Hizballah has said that it will now apply ‘all democratic and legitimate means’ to bring down the Siniora-led Lebanese government which enjoys Western support. In a move seen to be aimed at further alienating Lebanese Shi’a from the national government, Hizballah’s ultimate objective in Lebanon is to impose the rule of an Islamic state similar to that which governs its principle supporter, Iran. The Qods Force unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps founded the Lebanese Hizballah terrorist organization in the early 1980’s.

By Steve Schippert at 10:21 AM | Permalink

As Iran’s nuclear program once again takes center stage within United Nations Security Council chambers, the Untied States is working hard to cut off terrorists’ cash flow into Iraq. Sunni groups continue to receive massive cash support from within Syria while Shi’a militias such as al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army receive millions of dollars from Iran via the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force.

Much of the funds used by Sunni insurgents goes to pay for individual attacks, including IED attacks. CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid noted the importance that the flow of money plays in this aspect, saying, “The average IED is an attack form carried out by people that are really not ideologically committed. They get paid, and they’re getting paid because they don’t have any money and they’re getting paid because they’ve got people [who] are generally members of the old army that don’t have work.”

Yet Iranian hands are in the IED mix as well. They are the source of the most deadly IED’s currently in the Iraq theater. In August, Alireza Jafarzadeh , the man who revealed the accurate intelligence on the clandestine Iranian nuclear program four years ago, identified three Tehran military manufacturing sites responsible for making the molten copper shaped charges used in the most deadly explosives in Iraq. “Three industrial sections called Sattari, Sayad Shirazi and Shiroodi” in the military-controlled Lavizan area of Tehran were identified. But these are not ‘_Improvised_ Explosive Devices,’ but rather intently manufactured and milled specifically to penetrate US and British armor in Iraq.

Iran continues to claim to be ‘attentive to Iraq’s security and stability’. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said that “Iran makes use of its relations with the countries of the region to promote regional security and peace.” But its millions of dollars funding al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army and continued flow of weapons used in roadside bombs illustrate quite the opposite.

In more fiery speeches in Tehran, the Iranian regime made renewed threats in response to any UN sanctions placed on Iran. While the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warned Britain specifically against any support for sanctions, Ahmadinejad contradicted himself by saying that sanctions will have little effect on Iran’s nuclear quest.

After condemning Britain for being little more than tools for the American administration, Ahmadinejad said, “We do advise Britain not to squirm and not to do childish activities concerning the resolution. Iran’s nation has stood up and will not let you achieve anything except humiliation.”

Yet, with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member-states in Tehran for a conference, Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki said that negotiation is the preferred path rather than conflict or sanctions. He said, “Negotiations will be the best and the most feasible way of reaching an understanding.” With the SCO conference in Tehran this week, Mottaki was asked if Iran relies upon the support of China and Russia for protection of its nuclear program. The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Mottaki saying in response, “We only count on our nation but will nonetheless make our stance known to other states. We hope other countries will find our stance to be rational and possibly support it.”

Without Russian and Chinese protection, UN Security Council sanctions would likely have been enacted long ago. Both states have remained firmly opposed to sanctions against Iran, with the Russian Foreign Minster recently declaring the Russia will directly oppose and sanctions intended to punish the Iranian regime. It is now 60-days beyond the ignored UNSC deadline for an Iranian halt in enrichment activities.

By Steve Schippert at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Feedback (1)

In a bold move, Argentinean prosecutors have requested Argentine and international arrest warrants for former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani, former intelligence chief, Ali Fallahijan, and former Foreign Minister Ali Ar Velayati as well as several leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. All told, the arrest of eight current and former high-ranking Iranian officials are sought for trial by the Argentinean prosecutors currently charged with investigating the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed at least 85 and wounded hundreds.

The chief Argentine prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, made it perfectly clear that his team is convinced beyond doubt that the bombing was perpetrated by the terrorist group Hizballah at the direct guidance of the highest reaches of the Iranian government. Nisman said, “We deem it proven that the decision to carry out an attack (on) July 18, 1994, on the AMIA (Argentine Jewish Mutual Association) was made by the highest authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran which directed Hizbollah to carry out the attack.”

A report appearing in The Australian quotes a Hizballah source in reaction from Lebanon saying, “I have not yet heard that but it is not new. The Zionists want that.”

The Israel daily Haaretz reports a summary of Israeli intelligence on the bombing, including its possession of the transcript of the 1994 Hizballah suicide bomber’s farewell phone call home to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. It reports that it was a 1993 meeting headed by Ayatollah Khameini and included Rafsanjani, at the time Iran’s president, as well as the foreign minister, the intelligence minister and Khameini’s intel & security advisor, Muhamed Hijazi.

Iranian state-run television reported on the Argentinean calls for arrests, but stopped short of naming Rafsanjani, currently the head of the regime’s Expediency Council, or any of the others implicated in the investigation. The official Islamic Republic News Agency has yet to publish a report on these developments at the time of this writing, but did publish an article reporting Ayatollah Khameini praising Hizballah It quoted Iran’s Supreme Leader as saying, “Reliance on God Almighty, brave resistance and maximum use of all the existing potential have been the key to shocking victory of the Lebanese people and Hizbollah against the Zionist Regime.”

Argentina has South America’s largest Jewish population at over 300,000. Argentina has also enjoyed normal relations with the ‘Zionist regime’ that Khameini spoke of in his praise for Hizballah. Late last week, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leveled direct threats at European nations for supporting Israel and warned them to distance themselves from the ‘Zionist regime,’ adding, “This is an ultimatum. Don’t complain tomorrow.”

By Steve Schippert at 11:45 AM | Permalink

Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that the EU/US draft proposal for sanctions on Iran were unacceptable and inconsistent with the Security Council Mandate regarding Iran. “I believe the proposed draft resolution does not meet the objectives set out by the Iran-6 [the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany],” Lavrov said. He added, “Our goal is to eliminate the risks of sensitive technologies getting into the hands of Iran until the IAEA clarifies issues of interest to it, while maintaining all possible channels of communication with Iran.” This implies that Russia does not believe constructing a nuclear plant constitutes risking “sensitive technologies getting into the hands of Iran.”

Eliminated from the language received from the EU by Russia and China was any restriction on the Russian construction of the Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran. The United States wanted such a restriction in place, though it fully expected it to eventually be stripped. American UN Ambassador John Bolton wanted the measure in place originally so as to serve as a bargaining chip. The New York Times quoted a European diplomat as saying, “The Americans say, ‘We have to make the text even stronger because we know the Russians will water it down.’” The diplomat disagreed with the approach as “not a productive way of thinking.”

But the Russians have rejected the proposal even without such stipulations. In the draft, the Russian construction at Bushehr is not prohibited, though there are unspecified measures regarding the supply of fuel to Iran once construction is complete.

The State Department’s Nicholas Burns assured that the Bushehr nuclear plant would not be a “major stumbling point.” That its Russian construction is left unaddressed in the initial draft speaks to that loudly.

The text of the draft proposal is unavailable, but it is reported that aside from the Bushehr issue, it addresses prohibition of sales of items that could be used for the Iranian nuclear and missile programs, travel restrictions on Iranians involved in the nuclear and missile development programs, and the freezing of assets of individuals involved in the nuclear and missile development programs.

It remains unclear how far up the Iranian leadership chain these travel and financial sanctions would apply. The question remains: Would these sanctions apply to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and other Iranian leadership figures responsible for oversight and approval of various aspects?

Also reportedly included in the language of the sanctions draft proposal are restrictions on Iranian students abroad, prohibiting them from studying nuclear physics in universities outside Iran. The New York Times calls the educational prohibition an “extraordinary step.” While it may be technically out of the ordinary, it is in line with logic regarding prohibiting a state’s acquisition of technological capabilities.

The United Nations ambassadors from the P5+1 (United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China + Germany) a due to meet today regarding the sanctions draft proposal.

By Steve Schippert at 9:37 AM | Permalink

In April 2006, Iran conducted a very public show of force with their much publicized ‘Great Prophet Exercises’ in the Persian Gulf which included press conferences on their latest proclaimed advances, such as stealth aircraft and MIRV warheads. Six months later in the waters of the Persian Gulf, as the United Nations Security Council expects to meet and debate potential Iran sanctions, the United States and Persian Gulf Arab states are quietly conducting training exercises related to maritime non-proliferation cargo inspections. The exercises are part of the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). The counter-proliferation exercises by American, Bahraini and Kuwaiti forces are planned to begin Sunday, October 29.

Iran yesterday denounced the coming PSI exercises as “dangerous and suspicious,” and warned regional Arab states against taking part in “any initiative which could help the Zionists and the United States.”

The harsh Iranian criticism - and veiled threats to cooperating regional Arab states - come as the United States seeks to enact sanctions on Iran similar to those imposed on North Korea. Even still, the draft proposal of sanctions for eventual UNSC consideration is said to have been watered down in order to entice Russia and China to support some form of sanctions against the Islamic Republic for its clandestine nuclear program.

The draft proposal in its current form seeks to ban the sale of nuclear and missile technology to Iran, deny foreign travel of Iranian officials involved in their nuclear and missile programs, and deny the nuclear assistance currently provided by the IAEA. One of the diplomats familiar with the proposal “described all three measures as moderate and narrowly focused in an attempt to win Russian and Chinese backing to punish Iran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.”

As the IAEA has presided over the emergence of nuclear arms in Pakistan, India and North Korea, it has been criticized as being ineffectual in its non-proliferation efforts. It was an extra-UN cooperation organization, the Proliferation Security Initiative, that brought down the world’s chief nuclear technology proliferation network, that of Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. It is this organization of concerned states, operating free of the weighty bureaucratic oversight of the United Nations, that has been given the green light to conduct counter-proliferation cargo inspections on North Korean cargo by the UN Security Council, though not without reservations.

As the Security Council barters amongst its members in preparations for formal debate on sanctions, Iran’s second centrifuge cascade is ready to be fed with uranium gas for enrichment and Russia’s construction of Iran’s Bushehr light water nuclear reactor continues, though Russia said that the Bushehr plant’s launch will be delayed for technical reasons. Russia now expects the plant to come online in September 2007. The United States objects to the Russian construction while Iran’s nuclear program is under Security Council scrutiny and, potentially, sanctions.

By Steve Schippert at 10:20 AM | Permalink

Even though the Islamic Republic remains in defiant violation of the United Nations Security Council’s demand that it cease enrichment operations by August 31, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Gholamreza Ansari, said that Tehran is anxious to restart nuclear talks regarding its nuclear program. Said the ambassador, “I am certain that Iran is ready for talks to begin as soon as possible, all issues can be discussed during these negotiations.” But the United States believes that Iran’s claims of being willing to discuss ‘all issues’ is little more than a stalling tactic, designed to buy the regime more time, month by month, for furthering its nuclear weapons program.

The United States likely does not view it coincidental that Iran’s re-stated desires for more talks, a call that is made by Iran on almost a daily basis, is accompanied today with news that a second Iranian 164-centrifuge cascade is in place and will soon be ready for operation. This according to IAEA head Mohammed ElBaredei, who said yesterday that “based on our most recent inspections, the second centrifuge cascade is in place and ready to go.” ElBaredei remains unconvinced that Iran is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, adding, “The jury is still out on whether they are developing a nuclear weapon.”

Also today, even as Russia recently earlier vowed to oppose and punishment of Iran through UN sanctions, implying a veto vote, reports today suggest that the United States and European diplomats are arguing over the Russian construction of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor. It had been reported earlier that the two sides had come to agreement that a waiver would be included in the sanctions language that would permit Russia to complete the construction of the Bushehr nuclear facility, worth an estimated US$800 million to cash-strapped Moscow. This idea came under immediate criticism as being contrary to the principle of nuclear sanctions against Iran.

As Iran’s Russia ambassador renews the regime’s calls for talks, the Iranian President yesterday said that Iran’s nuclear capabilities have increased ten-fold before a supportive Tehran crowd, just days after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered his Jihad ultimatum to Europe.

His political rival, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the current Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council, was reported in Iran’s state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency as affirming once again that Iran “renounces nuclear arms in light of the ethical principles enshrined by Islam.” In a reference to World War II, he attempted to buttress this by saying, “The US which has brought Iranian nuclear program to the spotlight is the first country in the world that used nuclear weapon bringing eternal disgrace for itself. So, no other country would do so, because of subsequent disgrace.”

With the UN Security Council expected to take up consideration of Iran sanctions this week, all eyes will be on Russia following their pledge to oppose any punishment of Iran through sanctions. If the US and Europe cannot come to agreement on the issue of Russia’s construction of the plant at Bushehr, the Malaysia Star report cited a European diplomat who suggested that Europe may forgo the United States and circulate the document directly to Russia and China without American approval. This week could be a contentious week of diplomatic conflict for all involved as the issue of Iran sanctions nears the floor of the Security Council chambers.

By Steve Schippert at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Feedback (1)

As Fatah members of the Palestinian police and security forces staged more protests against Hamas in Gaza City over wage non-payment since Hamas won control of the Palestinian parliament, battle lines between Fatah and Hamas are being ever more clearly drawn.

The primary reason for the lack of funds to pay the Palestinian police and other government employees is that the international community has sharply curtailed aid monies since Hamas took office. The conditions for reinstatement remain the recognition of Israel and the renouncement of violence (principally terrorist tactics). Hamas has refused to budge from its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel. The foreign aid money thus remains beyond reach of the Palestinian Authority and the payrolls go unpaid.

Hamas’ PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar virtually assured the continued monetary disconnect on Friday as he declared in no uncertain terms that Hamas will never recognize Israel, regardless of previous offers of a long-term hudna (ceasefire). “Israel is a growth on our land. It has no historical, religious, or cultural justification, and we will never establish relations with this ‘cancer,’” Zahar proclaimed. He sealed the door shut saying, “We will never recognize Israel - this is a final, non-negotiable decision.”

In another account of his words Friday, regarding the kidnapping of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit, Zahar threatened that Hamas “will abduct more soldiers if Israel does not release [Palestinian] prisoners.”

While Gaza is considered Hamas’ stronghold and the West Bank Fatah’s, Hamas appears to be gearing up for direct conflict with Fatah inside the West Bank. In parallel with Zahar’s threats and declarations Friday, Hamas held a rally in Qalqilya in Fatah’s West Bank back yard. Hamas was reported as parading hundreds of new recruits, freshly armed, in the streets of Qalqilya, a traditionally Fatah-dominated West Bank town on the Israeli border.

It has also been reported that this development is what caused Mahmoud Abbas to rehire Ismail Jaber as the West Bank’s security commander. Abbas had fired Jaber in April 2005 over a shooting incident inside his presidential headquarters. But Jaber is highly respected by Fatah veterans, and the Palestinian president needs an effective commander as Fatah faces a growing openly armed threat from Hamas within the West Bank. Hamas has already amassed a 6,000-man ‘executive force’ in Gaza, and has stated plans to field an armed force of 1,500 men in the West Bank. The new recruits paraded in Qalqilya Friday are thought to be a manifestation of that plan.

While Israeli ministers discuss a major potential Gaza operation in the coming weeks in order to, among other things, retake control of the Philadelphi route used for arms smuggling between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Palestinians themselves may beat the Israelis to the operational punch as a Palestinian civil war looms as ominously as ever before.

By Steve Schippert at 1:30 AM | Permalink | Referenced By (1)

As a draft proposal for Iran sanctions is expected to be delivered to the UN Security Council for consideration this week, Iran’s Russian protectors dismissed the notion of any sanctions for punishment after the Iranian regime ignored the Security Council’s deadline for ending enrichment activity. Instead, Russian Foreign Minister said that Russia “will oppose any attempts to use the Security Council to punish Iran or use Iran’s program in order to promote the ideas of regime change there.”

The veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council has essentially assured that, while the UN body will be taking up the Iranian crisis this week, little if any tangible consequences will be dealt out to the bellicose Islamic Republic. Even after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a clear war ultimatum to Europe, threatening it with the spread of Jihad to its soil for supporting Israel, Moscow continues to fervently protect its key trading partner.

Russia is currently under contract for US$800 million to complete construction of the light water nuclear reactor at Bushehr. In attempts to minimize Russian losses and thus bring them into agreement on other aspects of the proposed Iranian sanctions, it was agreed by the US and Europe that Russia would be permitted to complete the construction regardless of the nuclear nature of the Iranian threat. This attempted acquiescence has apparently failed and the Russian defense of Iran continues in earnest.

Though the past three years of talks between various parties and Iran have netted no results, Sergey Lavrov insisted that “Any measures of influence should encourage creating conditions for talks.” The Iranian condition for talks has consistently been that it will not halt enrichment during any talks while the European and American position has been to demand that talks must follow enrichment cessation.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki rejected this position once more, saying, “We don’t see any logic to suspending uranium enrichment. Enrichment of uranium by Iran is a legal action derived from its membership rights in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.” Critics dismiss the Iranian defense under NPT rights, as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty they cite was admittedly broken in their acquisition of centrifuges, various other nuclear equipment and scientific expertise from the AQ Khan international proliferation network.

But as Mottaki continued on to invite talks, France’s Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie indicated that his veto-wielding country would be willing to shelve the push for sanctions as well if Iran showed “steps forward.” The French minister said, “If Iran does display good will, France and France’s partners are ready to suspend the procedure in front of the security council. The only condition is that there are indeed steps forward.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mottaki continued to remark about talks. “Dialogue is the best way to reach an understanding,” Mottaki said. But the ‘understanding’ he speaks of is not one of enrichment cessation or finding an alternative compromise. “We are ready to hold talks about the reason for enrichment.” Talks on the issue with Iran are seen by the United States as a fruitless and seemingly endless endeavor by Iranian design, which is why the US insists on cessation before entering into any talks.

When these latest developments are placed in context with the lack of unity against a North Korean regime openly declaring nuclear weapons, testing them and threatening their use, there is little reason to question the Iranian regime’s swagger. The Iranian confidence continues to build and the likelihood of meaningful sanctions against the regime ever more remote.

By Steve Schippert at 2:45 AM | Permalink | Feedback (1)

While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice applauded China’s newly active role in reining in the Kim Jong Il regime, primarily economically by freezing the North’s bank accounts, she expressed doubts about reports of North Korea stepping back from the brink of crisis. While reports circulated and were widely repeated Friday that Kim had apologized to Tang Jiaxuan, China’s former foreign minister, and promised not to carry out further tests, the Secretary of State said that Tang told her of no such development in their meetings.

“Tang did not tell me that Kim Jong-Il either apologized for the test or said that he would not ever test again,” Ms. Rice said. She continued, “The Chinese did not, in a fairly thorough briefing to me, say anything about an apology. The North Koreans, I think, would like to see an escalation of the tension.”

While she left China without many tangible commitments from either Beijing or Seoul on strict enforcement of the UN Security Council sanctions, she maintained that North Korea is no less belligerent today than in the days immediately following their failed nuclear test.

With Moscow her last stop in her Asian tour that included China, South Korea and Japan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov harshly criticized the United States’ response to the North Korean nuclear test as “extreme” and “uncompromising.” The American Secretary of State seemed to reply in kind, offering criticism of Russia’s shrinking freedom of the press as she met with the son of slain Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya as well as with the editors and journalists of the newspaper she wrote for, Novaya Gazeta. Russia remains consistently contentious toward American policy as relations between the Cold War foes continue to sour.

By Steve Schippert at 12:44 AM | Permalink

“This is an ultimatum. Don’t complain tomorrow.” These are the words of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Europe today.

Nearly 60 days after the Security Council’s deadline for Iran to halt enrichment passed, Britain’s U.N. Ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, said today that a draft proposal for Iran sanctions should be delivered to the Security Council early next week. The United States, Britain, France and Germany had been in consultations regarding the text of the proposal this week and it had yet to be seen or considered by Russia or China. But American UN Ambassador John Bolton said that “within a day or two we’ll have something to circulate more broadly in the council.”

As the Security Council session to determine the sanctioned fate of the Islamic Republic looms, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the occasion of al-Qods Day (Jerusalem Day) to rally the Muslim world and openly threaten Europe. Rather than directly condemn European nations such as Britain, France and Germany for supporting sanctions over the Iranian nuclear program, Ahmadinejad instead used the al-Qods Day event to condemn them before a broader Muslim audience for their support of the state of Israel. He openly threatened European states, saying that their continued support of Israel would soon hurt them.

Argued Ahmadinejad, “You should believe that this regime (Israel) cannot last and has no more benefit to you. What benefit have you got in supporting this regime, except the hatred of the nations?” He went on to send Europe an unveiled threat, saying, “We have advised the Europeans that the Americans are far away, but you are the neighbors of the nations in this region. We inform you that the nations are like an ocean that is welling up, and if a storm begins, the dimensions will not stay limited to Palestine, and you may get hurt.” It was in a speech on al-Qods Day last year that Ahmadinejad declared that Israel should be “wiped from the map.”

But the nature of Ahmadinejad’s open threat today cannot be fully understood without citing Ahmadinejad’s words that directly preceded the above threat. Unlike the BBC, most media accounts thus far are not including Ahmadinejad’s direct and literal ultimatum. He declared to Europe,

“You imposed a group of terrorists [Israel]… on the region. It is in your own interest to distance yourself from these criminals… This is an ultimatum. Don’t complain tomorrow.”

With the above statement, there is no mistaking Ahmadinejad’s words as a state’s threat of war to be principally waged through the terrorism of jihad. Iran is the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, and no words from any of its leaders have ever made it more abundantly clear.

Precisely when ‘tomorrow’ may be is unclear, but when the United Nations had set an earlier deadline for Iran on July 12, that was precisely the date that the Iranian-founded and –supported terrorist group Hizballah launched an attack into Israel which sparked the summer’s Israel-Hizballah war in Lebanon.

Arms, explosives and ammunition continue to pour into Gaza, the epicenter of Ahmadinejad’s foretold widespread violence and Jihad. Today, Egyptian police interdicted a 200-crate shipment of arms and ammunition bound for terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Tunnels are reportedly being dug as Hamas intends to emulate the Iranian-trained Hizballah tactics used in Lebanon over the summer.

As thousands protest the existence of Israel on al-Qods Day, in Pakistan and elsewhere, Ahmadinejad’s ultimatum should be taken with the grave sincerity and literal terms in which it was delivered.

By Steve Schippert at 3:50 PM | Permalink

Signals from North Korea have taken a decidedly different tone after Hu Jintao sent Tang Jiaxuan to Pyongyang to speak with Kim Jong Il. South Korea’s Yonhap reports that the North Korean dictator told Tang that the communist state “has no plan to conduct additional nuclear tests” after he arrived in Pyongyang to “hand down a personal message” from China’s Hu to Kim. China possibly appears to have successfully talked the North Koreans down from the ledge of confrontation. What combination of carrots and/or sticks China employed is yet to be seen. Upon his return, Tang had told Condoleezza Rice, in Beijing for talks on North Korea, that his trip to Pyongyang “not been in vain.”

In another example of an immediate change in tone, North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan told ABC News that “Kim Jong Il has been saying all along in his words that there’s no reason North Korea should remain an enemy of the United States.” When asked directly about any further nuclear tests, the foreign minister offered an indirect, “I think you can closely watch what happens.”

This welcomed development of North Korean tone moderation is tempered by the continuing differences between the Untied States and China with regard to desired outcomes for North Korea . Under no military threat from North Korea, China does not want the collapse of Kim Jong Il’s regime, at least in part for fear of an unmanageable wave of fleeing immigrants seeking a better life and opportunity in China. The United States and Japan are the constant recipients of North Korean threats and the primary targets of its missile arsenal. Within this context, the US seeks an end to the Kim regime.

These widely divergent desired outcomes are at the heart of the difficulties the United States is experiencing in her efforts to achieve a more unified implementation of the UN Security Council sanctions handed down last week. Even neighboring South Korea has balked on aspects of implementation, exemplifying that the conflict is between North Korea and the United States and clearly not with their South Korean neighbors.

Yet at the same time, the Bangkok Post reported that China has expanded its economic penalization of the NoKor regime, quoting the China Daily as saying that “Major Chinese banks stopped payments to the DPRK last week.” This suspended cash flow has put an immediate dent into the lifestyle of Kim Jong Il, and its prolonged suspension holds dire consequences on a higher level for the communist state as a whole. Potentially disastrous food and fuel shortages as a result have already been contemplated.

It is likely that the Chinese economic pressure on North Korea had much more to do with today’s sudden change of tone from the regime than any other action, UN sanctions-based or otherwise.

By Steve Schippert at 11:25 AM | Permalink

As US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lands in Beijing to hold talks on North Korea, its nuclear program and enforcing the UN sanctions imposed on it, a top Chinese delegation is set for return from Pyongyang. China’s mission in Pyongyang was to convince the North Korean regime to stand down its nuclear threats and exhibitions, either by threatening their food and fuel supplies heading into another typically harsh North Korean winter or by enticing them back to the six-party talks or even bi-lateral talks directly with the United States.

While the success of China’s attempts remain unknown, South Korean Parliament intelligence committee member Chung Hyung-keun said that intelligence from multiple countries indicated that “it is certain the North will conduct three or four additional nuclear tests in the future.” He gave no timeframe.

In an interview with ABC News, a North Korean general said that war with the United States “will be inevitable” if the US does not tone down its threats against the communist regime. He said that President Bush expects North Korea to “kneel” and that the North Koreans will sooner go to war.

Quickly, White House spokesman Tony Snow said that this is not at all the case. Said Snow, “Let me make clear to the people of North Korea and the entire world — not only do we not want North Korea to kneel down, … what we are trying to do is offer them a better deal.”

But one thing the United States is certainly trying to do is get nations – including signatory nations – to actively enforce the UN Security Council resolutions imposed on the Kim Jong Il regime, with acute attention to the prevention of proliferation through authorized cargo inspections. The reluctance of Russia and China in particular have been troubling enough. But news out of Seoul is that South Korea will continue economic cooperation with the North Korean regime, including the continued joint construction of a tourist resort in the North.

This decision is indicative of the nature of the conflict: One that is clearly between North Korea and the United States, and not China, Russia or even their South Korean neighbors. There were talks earlier in the week to convince the South Koreans to enforce the counter-proliferation cargo inspections near its own shores.

Even as a United Nations report Thursday indicated a North Korean practice of rounding up the disabled and placing them in segregated camps far from Kim’s capital city, reluctance is abound regardless. North Korean defectors detailed how certain disabilities are kept together in common space, described in the report as ‘inhumane,’ and not allowed to have children.

America is finding it hard to enforce the agreed-to sanctions without the participation of North Korea’s closest geographic neighbors.

By Steve Schippert at 12:26 AM | Permalink

In the IDF’s operations Thrusday, a Hamas terrorist involved in kidnapping Gilad Shalit was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. A Hamas spokesman said that the field commander for Hamas’ Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, Ashraf al-Muasher, was one of the two killed in an IDF operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in which the IDF took control of the border crossing into Egypt. In the West Bank, Hamas leader Ammar Al-Thaher was killed by unidentified gunmen Wednesday night. Fatah publicly condemned the killing and denied involvement as Hamas members organized a protest rally in Nablus and blamed a local Fatah strongman, Mohammed Dahlan, shouting “Dahlan, you traitor!”

As Israel continues its expanded push into Gaza, five more smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border were discovered. Israel has been executing a series of focused sweep operations aimed at curtailing the arms smuggling into Gaza that has been allowing Hamas to amass stores of ammunition and weapons for a confrontation with the IDF. Israeli intelligence estimates that millions of rounds of AK-47 ammunition have been amassed, as well as thousands of pounds of explosives for bomb making and advanced Russian anti-tank weapons, such as the Kornet.

Israeli tanks are reported to have taken control of the Rafah Crossing and also cut of the primary North-South road that leads to the Rafah link to Egypt. When Israel carries out operations in the southern area of Gaza, historically Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups have fired Qassam rockets into Israeli towns from the northern edge of Gaza. To minimize this likelihood, the IDF has troops operating on the ground on the northern end of Gaza as well.

These shoulder-fired advanced armor-piercing anti-tank munitions are the type that were used in the operation that resulting in the capture and kidnapping of Gilad Shalit near the Gaza border. They were also supplied to Hizballah by Iran and Syria and used effectively as their most effective weapon against the IDF and its Merkava tanks.

According to a UPI report, Israeli intelligence is concerned that among the weapons that have been smuggled into Gaza - as terrorists dig tunnels in emulation of Hizballah – are shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. In September, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter remarked, “Terror organizations in the Gaza Strip have shoulder-held missiles that to our knowledge have not yet been used. This will make the (military’s) mission much more complex.” As Hamas’ use of the Kornet anti-tank weapon in the capture of Gila Shalit – and Hizballah’s effective use of the same – took some by surprise, the Israeli intelligence services are intent on eliminating surprise with regard to terrorists’ eventual use of anti-aircraft weapons as well as locating and destroying them before they are fired on IAF aircraft.

By Steve Schippert at 11:57 AM | Permalink

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated the Russian position that any UN sanctions on Iran must be ‘proportionate.’ “It is necessary to act on Iran but that action should be in direct proportion to what is really happening. And what is really happening is what the IAEA reports to us. And the IAEA is not reporting to us about the presence there of a threat to peace and security.”

But what is really happening is that cash-strapped Russia continues to be the beneficiary of an Iranian contract to complete the construction of the Bushehr nuclear plant on the edge of the Persian Gulf for upwards of US$800 million. And sanctions on Iran must therefore be proportionate to Russian economic interests rather than proportionate to any Iranian nuclear threat.

And so Europe and the United States have agreed that the language of a draft proposal of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program to be submitted to the United Nations Security Council for consideration will include a waiver permitting Russia to build Iran’s nuclear facility in order “get the Russians to go along.”

In exchange also, Russia apparently will withdraw its demand that the US lift sanctions that have been placed on the Russian state-controlled arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, and aircraft manufacturer Sukoi. The two were slapped with US sanctions for providing prohibited (by US law) equipment and technology to Iran. Rosoboronexport is the world’s largest producer of titanium.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was in Moscow attempting to persuade Russia to act against Iran. But Olmert was unable to make headway with the former head of the KGB, as the VOA story made quite clear. “Mr. Olmert said he is confident that Mr. Putin understands Israel’s concerns. But in a joint news conference Wednesday, Mr. Putin said nothing about Iran’s nuclear program.”

For the Iranian people, it remains business as usual as the regime the regime put a 128k cap on internet access speeds in attempt to hinder information flow to the Iranian citizenry from the West as elections near. As candidates begin to register for Iran’s elections coming December 15th, they are all vetted by the Guardian Council, the same body that eliminated liberal reformist candidates from the ballots when Ahmadinejad was elected in June 2005. The same is expected this year.

By Steve Schippert at 3:10 AM | Permalink

President Bush warned North Korea against selling nuclear materials, naming Iran and al-Qaeda as possible recipients of Kim Jong Il’s wares. The president said, “If we get intelligence that they’re about to transfer a nuclear weapon, we would stop the transfer, and we would deal with the ships that were taking the — or the airplane that was dealing with taking the material to somebody.” He was then asked if that meant strikes against the communist regime as well, to which he responded, “I’d just say it’s a grave consequence.”

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cast open doubt about the ability to stop North Korean proliferation abroad regardless of inspection efforts, calling the goal “practically impossible.” Bringing the discussion into the context of continued Chinese and Russian objections to tangible counter-proliferation efforts through inspection, Rumsfeld said, “We have not seen that kind of cooperation that would have a high probability of being able to prevent a continued proliferation.”

And as satellite intelligence suggests that preparations for a second nuclear bomb test may well be underway, Jane’s Defence Weekly’s Joseph Bermudez says that a second test is only logical considering the first test’s failure. “If you look at what Pakistan did in 1998, the initial explosion had failed. It didn’t get to full yield—it didn’t have full explosive power—so they … carried on a series of follow-up tests validating their design.”

But Assistant US Secretary of State Christopher Hill seemed to pour water on the idea that a second North Korean detonation attempt is in the near-term cards. “We have always felt that the North Koreans could conduct a test when [they] wanted to but we do not have any indication that it’s going to happen imminently,” Hill said. While the likelihood of any coming nuclear test is debated in the West, putting an end to the days of Kim Jong-Il remains a hot debate topic in Chinese circles.

The Christian Science Monitor turned to the UN’s World Food Program to hear that, for the communist dictatorship’s citizens, North Korea potentially heads toward hunger once more as a result of sanctions in the face of the coming winter. The WFP’s(World Food Program) regional director for Asia told the newspaper that “There is relatively little humanitarian assistance going in now. The willingness of donors to meet those needs has not been very strong.” Kim Jong-Il effectively holds the North Korean people hostage, sacrificed for and punished by his nuclear arms ambitions.

And as Japan looks on having imposed its own sanctions on North Korea well ahead of the eventual UN Security Council consensus, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought to calm regional fears of Japan potentially seeking its own nuclear defenses. After meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, she assured Japan and the region “that the United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range and I underscore the full range of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan.”

By Steve Schippert at 2:05 AM | Permalink

South Korea’s Yonhap News reports of a possible second North Korean nuclear test after information became available that United States satellites had once again detected suspicious movement of trucks and people in the area very near where the North Koreans detonated their first nuclear test. The same ‘suspicious movement’ was detected and reported ahead of that test as well. South Korea was cautious to arrive at the conclusion of an impending second nuclear test while Japan acknowledged that they had information but would not elaborate.

The first test was confirmed to be a nuclear blast earlier today in a news release from the Director of National Intelligence which read, “Analysis of air samples collected on October 11, 2006 detected radioactive debris which confirms that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion in the vicinity of P’unggye on October 9, 2006. The explosion yield was less than a kiloton.”

The Chinese response continues to be somewhat self-conflicting, as it was widely reported Monday that China had begun inpections of cargo from North Korea. Yet Xu Guangyu of Beijing’s government-sponsored China Arms Control and Disarmament Association said that the Chinese inspections are “more a symbolic step than a real sanction measure. China just doesn’t engage in that sort of trade with North Korea, so there’s not much practical that needs to be done. It lets North Korea know our feelings.”

China is not hailed globally for its effective stance on arms control, but it could be said to be a remarkably bold move for North Korea to attempt to smuggle illicit weapons items through China without China’s nod. At the same time, even if China “just doesn’t engage in that sort of trade with North Korea,” smuggling is defined as “secretly importing [or exporting] prohibited goods,” which would be outside normal legal trade practices that Xu references by definition. That said, it is widely accepted that the greatest proliferation-policing challenge remains off the North Korean coastline and in the air, not along the Chinese land border.

While the level and intensity of Chinese cargo inspections may be viewed as debatable, South Korea’s Yonhap News has published another report of a development that has received little attention and may be a fair indicator of China’s displeasure with the Kim Jong Il regime. While at least one Chinese state-owned bank has frozen all North Korean accounts, China allowed three North Korean defectors to fly directly to the United States seeking political asylum. It marks the first time China has allowed defectors transit directly to the United States, cutting against a standing formal agreement with North Korea to repatriate defectors back to Pyongyang.

While China’s cargo inspection regime may be justifiably questioned by some quarters, with word of a potential second nuclear test that may be forthcoming, China’s permission to the three North Korean defectors to fly directly to America is an unsubtle message delivered at the doorstep of Kim Jong Il at his Pyongyang address.

By Steve Schippert at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Referenced By (1)

With a vote that nonetheless eventually happened today, China and Russia again delayed UN Security Council action against North Korea, as more objections were raised Saturday after initial objections were successfully addressed Friday. Objections were raised concerning the potential of US ships interdicting and inspecting North Korea-bound shipping close to Chinese and Russian borders.

But in the end, the UN Security Council ultimately voted today to impose sanctions on North Korea. As presented by the BBC, those sanctions reportedly include:

• Demands North Korea eliminate all its nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
• Requires all countries to prevent the sale or transfer of materials related to Pyongyang’s unconventional weapons programs, as well as large-sized military items such as tanks, missiles and helicopters.
• Demands nations freeze funds overseas of people or businesses connected with North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
• Allows nations to inspect cargo moving in and out of North Korea in pursuit of non-conventional weapons.
• Is not backed up by the threat of military force.
• Calls on Pyongyang to return “without precondition” to stalled six-nation talks on its nuclear program.

This seemingly opens the door for the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) member-states to interdict shipments to and from North Korea. The original eleven members of the Proliferation Security Initiative included Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and England. The membership has grown by dozens since 2003 and includes Russia but not China.

According to earlier reports shortly before the vote, the language of the proposed sanctions “now says local authorities will cooperate in the inspection process.” What is meant by “local authorities” is unclear, but could mean Russian and Chinese lead in any inspection effort.

If so, this could be a potentially troubling development, as China – while voicing displeasure over the nuclear test - is North Korea’s largest ally and, PSI membership notwithstanding, Russian actions surrounding the North Korean nuclear test raise more questions than comfort under scrutiny, especially the unsupported and since-disproven Russian claim of a nuclear blast 20 to 30 times greater than all other estimates. Not even the Russian seismic data supported the estimates publicly put forth by Moscow, which has brought the motivation behind such a claim into question.

Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov, warned the United States that sanctions against North Korea must not contain threat of force saying, “These sanctions mustn’t contain even a hint at use of force and mustn’t be directed against the North Korean people.” Meanwhile, the overt North Korean threats against Japan and the United States amidst missile and nuclear warhead testing continue to crescendo. The provision referencing the use of force as a last-resort enforcement mechanism was ultimately stricken from the sanctions language.

Even more troubling is the specter of Iranian involvement in the North Korean nuclear test, just as it was involved in North Korea’s July 4th multiple-missile test launchings. It was confirmed that leading members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were present at the North Korean launches. John Batchelor did a bit of reporting in a New York Sun Tuesday opinion piece, Persian Hands, that “It is logical, and now confirmed, that Iranian agents were present at the test site…” The well-connected author also suggested that the Iranians bought and paid for both the July missile tests and last week’s nuclear warhead test.

While the Iranians have been keenly observing the Security Council reaction to the North Korean nuclear test and accompanying bellicosity, the North Koreans were also observing the Security Council’s silent and motionless reaction to Iran’s defiance of their demands of halting uranium enrichment, which continues unabated to this day.

With no provision for the use of force as an enforcement mechanism, many observers believe North Korea can be expected to ignore the UN Security Council demands that it “eliminate all its nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles,” as this is a tall order to place without the backing of force.

By Steve Schippert at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Referenced By (1)

Following yesterday’s sudden resistance to North Korea sanctions from China, Russia and South Korea, the three regional actors have come to terms with an amended sanctions package as presented by the United States. At issue for the North Korean neighbors was language regarding the potential use of force and North Korean cargo inspections.

The Los Angeles Times article appearing in the Seattle Times describes National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones indicating that, while China agreed that “strong measures” against the North Korean regime were necessary, “it [China] wanted only sanctions related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” Yet at the heart of the disagreement over the original US sanctions proposal is the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), considered more effective at combating proliferation than the IAEA because it includes an enforcement mechanism consisting of willing states. The PSI enforced inspection of incoming and outgoing North Korean cargo for elicit or dual-use materials was the most effective non-proliferation measure against North Korea that was proposed.

Yesterday, South Korea said explicitly that it opposed the inspection of North Korean cargo and the South Korean governing party went so far as to question any limited role that South Korea currently plays within the Proliferation Security Initiative. Since 2005, South Korea has maintained non-participating “observer’s status” within the PSI.

As China and Russia oppose any PSI activity in efforts to stop the proliferation of missile and weapons of mass destruction technology by North Korea, critics question the sincerity of their stated concern regarding this proliferation. It is not lost on them that both Russia and China have had an active technological role in the nuclear program in Iran – itself built around equipment and technology largely gained through illicit proliferation through the AQ Khan international proliferation network - while the North Koreans have fed the Islamist regime long-range missile technology.

While a senior analyst with Seoul’s Korea Institute for Defense Analyses warns that nuclear-tipped missiles are North Korea’s next goal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev has been ordered to Pyongyang for direct talks with the regime.

Many believe that once again the United Nations has disappointed, as while the list of sanctions that looks to be approved by the UN Security Council will likely seek to prevent shipments of expensive suits, gold watches, and high-end perfumes, it will not contain any provisions for further preventing the import or export of nuclear weapons technology or related equipment and weapons, including through cargo inspections.

By Steve Schippert at 9:50 AM | Permalink

As the United States presented a draft proposal to the UN Security Council for sanctions, China balked on calls for punitive measures against North Korea, just as with Iran. Even though China’s immediate response to the North Korean claims of a nuclear bomb test was forceful, in which it termed North Korean actions as “brazen” and verbalized “resolute opposition,” Kim Jong Il’s sole ally sided with Russian calls to slow the UN process down.

Citing that, while there is common ground among nations, there is also disagreement, China’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said, “I think that of course people are talking about a possible vote tomorrow, but I’m not sure.” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that he also doubts that there will be any vote tomorrow, as called for by Washington.

As part of the United States’ sanctions proposal, South Korea’s governing Uri Party announced that they also oppose a blockade of North Korean ships and other forms of international transport. The United States led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), often considered the only effective non-proliferation arm in existence, was called “dangerous” by the leader of the South Korean Uri Party, Rep. Kim Geun-tae. North Korea has called the PSI’s actions a “fuse” that could light “a fire cloud of war.” The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an international coalition of states seeking to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, was largely responsible for the downfall of the A.Q. Khan network that supplied both Iran and North Korea with nuclear and missile technological assistance.

While the dissention in the ranks among those in opposition to North Korea’s nuclear activities begins in earnest, the banter emanating from Pyongyang crescendos. The Japan based ‘unofficial spokesman’ for Kim Jong Il, Kim Myong-chol, made wild claims and threats against both Japan and the United States. In an MBC Radio interview, the director of the Center