--------

Chernobyl remembered

April 26, 2000
Washington Times
Embassy Row, by James Morrison
http://www.washtimes.com/world/embassy-2000426214254.htm

Ukrainian Ambassador Kostyantyn Gryshchenko this evening will lead a commemoration on the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Mr. Gryshchenko will be joined by representatives of the Ukrainian-American community and clergymen from the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic churches at the 6:30 p.m. gathering in Lafayette Park.

-------- activists

APRIL 26, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Nukewatch: (715) 472-4185 or nukewtch@win.bright.net
Or Joel at Loaves & Fishes Community, (218) 724-2054

PEACE ACTIVISTS TO CELEBRATE POLITICS OF MOTHERS' DAY,
PROTEST PROJECT ELF, DEMAND: "DON'T SHOCK YOUR MOTHER!"

DULUTH, MN--Peace activists will convene a weekend of Mothers' Day events focused on the nuclear Navy and its Trident and ELF nuclear weapons system. It is the 13th annual Mothers' Day gathering to stop Project ELF, the Navy's one-way communications trigger for the Navy submarine fleet.

The gathering is dubbed "Don't Shock Your Mother!" a reference to the Project ELF transmitter, which constantly jolts the bedrock of northern Wisconsin with 3,000 kilowatts (3 million watts) of electricity in order to send messages to submarines. The amount is roughly the amount used by the city of Wausau, according to researchers at the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation, part of which is impacted by ELF’s electromagnetic wave generator.

Except for the concert, all activities are free and open to the public.

The activities commence Friday, May 12, with a benefit concert by the singer/songwriter Dar Williams. The concert begins at 8:00 p.m. at Mitchell Auditorium of the College of St. Scholastica, 1200 Kenwood, Av., in Duluth, MN. Opening the benefit concert is Duluth's own Sara Thomsen. Both performances will be interpreted in ASL. Ticket information is available at (218) 724-2054. Or the Scholastica ticket office: (218) 723-7000.

Saturday, May 13, activists will conduct a day long nonviolence training beginning at 9:00 a.m. at Peace Church, 1015 east 11th St. in Duluth. A free dance and social begins at 8:00 p.m.

On Sunday, May 14, Mothers' Day, a caravan to the ELF site leaves from the Loaves & Fishes Community, 1712 E. Jefferson at 10:00 a.m. At the site, Food Not Bombs will provide a lunch at noon. A rally begins at 1:00 p.m. featuring speakers Mary Lou Ott of Minneapolis, Gail Vaughn of Ferryville, WI and Barb Kass of Luck, WI. Sunday's nonviolent action may include a protest walk into the ELF compound.

The ELF transmitters sends crude, secret messages to submerged Trident and Fast Attack submarines -- U.S. and British -- around the world. U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) has called ELF "a cold war relic."

The site has been the object of protest for 25 years. Just since 1991, Ashland County deputies have issued 539 trespass citation to demonstrators.

The Mothers’ Day events are sponsored by Nukewatch, Loaves and Fishes Community, Anathoth Community and Food Not Bombs.

----

Court decides on fired whistlebowers rights

04/26/00-
http://usatoday.com/news/court/nsco1268.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court Wednesday made it harder for fired whistleblowers to successfully invoke a federal anti-racketeering law in suing their former employers.

Voting 7-2 in a Florida case, the justices said people allegedly harmed by a racketeering conspiracy must prove that an ''overt act'' that helped the conspiracy was itself a racketeering act.

That means a fired whistleblower cannot cite an allegedly retaliatory firing to meet the ''overt act'' requirement. Federal appeals courts had been split on that issue.

The ruling potentially is significant because the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, unlike most other federal laws, offers successful plaintiffs tripled damages.

''A person may not bring suit under (RICO) for injuries caused by an overt act that is not an act of racketeering or otherwise unlawful under the statute,'' Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court.

His opinion relied heavily on past rulings in common-law civil conspiracy cases he said ''support the notion that liability cannot be imposed unless the overt act that furthered the conspiracy and harmed the plaintiff was a particular kind of overt act.''

Justices John Paul Stevens and David H. Souter dissented.

Aimed primarily at fighting organized crime, the RICO law has both criminal and civil provisions. Past Supreme Court decisions - 13 of them in the past 14 years - have let plaintiffs invoke the law's civil provisions in a wide variety of disputes, by anyone allegedly harmed by a ''pattern'' of illegal activities.

The law has been invoked to accuse numerous huge corporations of racketeering.

Wednesday's decision in the Florida case was a defeat for Robert A. Beck II, who in 1983 was hired as president and a director of the Southeastern Insurance Group, a company whose subsidiaries wrote bonds for construction companies.

Beck's lawsuit, thrown out by lower courts, said he became aware in 1988 that other company officials were engaging in misconduct, such as creating false financial statements and diverting money to their personal use.

The lawsuit said that after reporting alleged improprieties to state insurance officials, his performance was criticized and he was fired. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1990.

Beck's lawsuit accused various company officials of violating the RICO law's conspiracy provisions. But a federal appeals court said he invoked the wrong law. ''A terminated whistleblower, although he may have a wrongful-termination claim, has not suffered an injury that was proximately caused by the defendant's racketeering activities,'' the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

The Supreme Court agreed. The overt act, Thomas wrote, cannot be ''merely the termination of employment.''

The case is Beck vs. Prupis, 98-1480.

-------- alternative energy

Minnesota's Operating and Planned Wind Farms

http://www.me3.org/issues/wind/

Clean Power Surge: Ranking the States - Union of Concerned Scientists, April 2000 This new report ranks Minnesota at the top in several categories of renewable energy development including: Strongest Commitment to Renewables Outside of Electricity Restructuring, Biggest Commitment to New Biomass, Biggest Commitment to New Wind, and Largest Wind Farm in the World

Clean Power Surge: Ranking the States
http://www.ucsusa.org/energy/surge.html

-------- britain

DIRTY WASTE DANGER AT N-BOMB PLANTS

April 26, 2000
UK Online Mirror
http://www.ic24.net/mgn/THE_MIRROR/NEWS/P14S3.html

NUCLEAR weapons factories are dangerously contaminated with radioactive and toxic waste, says a leaked report by British Nuclear Fuels.

An investigation revealed high levels of plutonium, asbestos, depleted uranium, beryllium and tritium. Defence chiefs handed over running of the atom plants at Aldermaston, Burghfield, Berks and Cardiff to BNFL - criticised for safety failings at Sellafield - on April 1.

BNFL say records of on-site waste are full of errors. And some low-level waste has disappeared.

A weapons official admitted: "Some radio- active waste is not properly accounted for."

----

UK investigates nuke fuel rod found in scrapyard

UK: April 26, 2000
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
Story by Matthew Jones
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=6461

LONDON - Britain's Environment Agency said on Tuesday it was investigating how a rod of the nuclear fuel uranium ended up in a scrapyard.

"We have taken the rod to a research site to analyse it," the agency's spokesman Oliver Blackburn told Reuters.

Blackburn said the rod was undergoing tests to determine where it had originated after workers at the scrapyard in Tamworth, in central England, discovered it earlier this month.

"We are treating this seriously. Rods like these should all be accounted for, they are not supposed to end up in scrapyards," he said.

Uranium rods are used to fuel nuclear power plants. Once used the radioactive spent rods are normally disposed of at designated sites under tight security.

Workers at the Tamworth scrapyard used a Geiger counter to confirm their suspicion about the yard-long (metre-long) rod but there was no radioactive contamination, Blackburn said.

"There was no hazard to the staff of the scrapyard or local residents," said Blackburn. He could not specify whether the rod had already been used in a power plant.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) one to three incidents of missing radioactive material are reported worldwide every year. Experts estimate that unreported disappearances in the former Soviet Union at least doubles that figure.

Last year a Peruvian man unwittingly carried radioactive material in his back trouser pocket for a day seriously contaminating both himself and those he came into contact with.

-------- china / taiwan / tibet

Tibetan Exiles Complain of Care

APRIL 25, 23:05 EDT
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=ASIA&STORYID=APIS7435Q180

NEW DELHI, India (AP) - The Dalai Lama's supporters are charging that China has damaged Tibet's environment through careless exploitation of oil, water and timber resources.

Water ``is now severely polluted by chemical nuclear and industrial waste,'' said the 160-page study of the impact of 41 years of Chinese rule in Tibet.

Based on reports from refugees, occasional Western visitors and Chinese news articles, the report was prepared by the Dalai Lama's exile government for presentation to the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development on Wednesday.

The report seeks international action to pressure China ``to ensure Tibet's ecology and culture are protected.''

Chinese troops occupied Tibet in 1950, claiming it needed to be liberated from feudalism. After a violent Tibetan uprising in 1959, the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India, from where he continues to fight for Tibetan autonomy as a political and spiritual leader.

``Many Tibetan refugees have been eye witnesses to the People's Liberation Army brigades venturing out in hunting parties to machine-gun down herds of wild animals,'' said the report. ``China's PLA soldiers stationed in Tibet often dynamite rivers and lakes to catch fish.''

The report quotes Chinese news articles through 1997 as referring to plans to dam the great bend in the Yarlung Tsangpao River, to produce exportable electricity.

The Chinese foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the report. In the past, china has defended its rule over Tibet, saying it freed serfs and slaves and brought economic development to a poor, remote region.

The exile administration's report says that China has dumped nuclear waste in Tibet, stores missiles underground near the capital, Lhasa, and tests anti-missile laser weapons in Tibet because of it's high altitude.

It also quotes a statement from the Chinese-controlled Tibetan government, published in the Tibetan Daily in 1997, as saying that 41.9 million tons of waste liquid had been discharged into the Lhasa River in 1996, more than half of it from industrial sources.

----

Official: China-Taiwan War Unlikely

APRIL 26, 06:34 EDT
By MARCOS CALO MEDINA
Associated Press Writer
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=ASIA&STORYID=APIS743CCJG0

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - China is engaging in a new round of psychological warfare with Taiwan, a Taiwanese official said today, one day after the island's military accused China of stepping up military exercises.

Lin Chong-pin, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council that handles Taiwan's China policy, said that Beijing was trying to intimidate Taiwan into starting reunification talks.

Chinese leaders lack the confidence to act on their threats of an all-out war with the island, Lin said.

``Unlike Mao Tse-tung and Deng Xiaoping, China's current leaders lack the war experience and therefore the authority over the military to push themselves to the brink,'' Lin said.

The Taiwanese military's report Tuesday that China has stepped up drills for bombers and other warplanes on its eastern coast scared some investors in the Taiwanese stock market, which slid 4.3 percent today.

Chinese H-6 bombers and other aircraft have been flying long-range sorties off China's coasts in recent weeks as part of exercises involving naval vessels, the military said, citing its intelligence sources.

China said the exercises were normal and aimed at enhancing the capability of the Chinese military.

Sun Tao-yu, a vice minister of defense, also said there was ``nothing unusual'' about the drills, which are usually held during the spring.

Taiwanese defense officials, however, said the flights might be a possible warm-up for a new intimidation campaign as Taiwan's next president, Chen Shui-bian, prepares to take office May 20.

Lin agreed today that the sorties were part of China's psychological warfare.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the two sides split amid civil war in 1949, and Beijing has repeatedly threatened war if Taiwan refuses to reunify and seeks a permanent break.

But Lin said war would be unlikely because China's leaders are afraid of the social unrest, economic upheaval and the consequent threat to their hold on power that a protracted war with Taiwan would bring.

``If they go to war, they will set back their economy by 20 years,'' said Lin, an expert on China's People's Liberation Army.

Also today, the president-elect paid a courtesy call to former military chief Hau Pei-tsun, who brushed off the recent reports about China's military exercises.

``Of course I know nothing about their training plans, but it looks like normal air force exercises,'' said Hau, who once also served as premier. ``If communist China wanted to bomb Taiwan, it would not begin by using the bombers.''

China has been building up a large arsenal of missiles, and many defense experts say a Taiwan attack would begin with a missile barrage that would knock out the island's anti-aircraft defenses.

Chen urged China to use peaceful methods to improve ties between the two sides.

``We want peace, harmony, cooperation,'' Chen said.

---

To help Taiwan defend itself

James Hackett
April 26, 2000
Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/commentary-200042615393.htm

The chasm between the Clinton-Gore White House and congressional Republicans has never been greater than it is on the question of arms sales to Taiwan.

The administration's refusal to sell Taiwan the four Aegis destroyers it wants to buy has produced cries of outrage from Congress. Sen. Jesse Helms, North Carolina Republican, accused the White House and State Department of "knee-jerk appeasement" of China, while Sen. Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican, is trying to bring to a vote the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act to restore U.S. military ties with Taiwan.

Mr. Helms was angered by the Defense Department's quick retreat from its earlier position in support of the sale of Aegis ships to Taiwan. But that was only to be expected. Defense Secretary William Cohen took the destroyers off the table even before the showdown meeting in the White House. How could he, a former Republican senator, stand up to National Security Adviser Samuel Berger and Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, both longtime Friends of Bill and apologists for Beijing and Moscow?

After months of searching for a formula for arms sales to Taiwan that would not make Beijing mad, the administration found one. Taiwan wants to buy a Pave Paws long-range radar to monitor Chinese missile launches, but the administration agreed only to discuss a shorter-range radar, and will decide later how powerful it can be (wink, wink to Beijing). In addition, Taiwan can buy the air-to-air missiles it has long sought for its F-16 fighters provided by President Bush, but the missiles will be stored in the United States (more winks).

Taiwan also will be sold upgrades of air-launched anti-ship and anti-tank missiles it already has. But not the Aegis destroyers, submarines, anti-submarine patrol planes, and Patriot PAC-3 missile interceptors it needs to confront the mainland's rapidly improving naval, air and missile forces. Beijing played its part in the administration's charade and protested only mildly.

But the same day, Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, completing a visit to China, was telling the press that China's leaders were complaining that ambiguity about "one China" had allowed Taiwan to slip toward independence. Beijing, he said, no longer will tolerate ambiguity and instead will "go all the way." If Taiwan declares independence, "military action will be taken immediately."

China's position is clear - it will go to war to gain control of Taiwan. But Washington's remains shrouded in ambiguity. The sale of Aegis destroyers would have made it clear the U.S. will help Taiwan defend itself. Now that remains in doubt, and the People's Liberation Army generals who have been urging "tough and immediate action against Taiwan" will be convinced the U.S. will not stand in their way.

Taiwan's fears are real. The mainland has supersonic cruise missiles and 200 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan, and is building up to 800. New Russian destroyers with supersonic anti-ship missiles are joining the Chinese fleet. China's 66 submarines include four Russian Kilo-class subs, and just two weeks ago the Hong Kong press revealed that China now is producing its own Kilo-class submarines, with 75-mile range anti-ship cruise missiles. The first Chinese-built Kilo has joined the fleet and is "combat ready against Taiwan."

To face these modern Russian weapons Taiwan asked for submarines, long-range patrol planes, and four Aegis destroyers - and got none of them. The administration says they would upset the balance of power, which is ridiculous.These weapons are needed to maintain the balance of power. Besides, they cannot be delivered overnight.

It would take up to five years for Aegis destroyers to be built and delivered and the crews trained, and even longer to add sea-based ballistic missile defenses. That would come close to the 2007 deadline some Chinese leaders are proposing for the takeover of Taiwan. But just agreeing to sell Taiwan Aegis ships would send the message Beijing needs to hear.

There may still be time, but not much, for Congress and the next president to avoid war in Asia. Congress should tie the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act to the bill to establish normal trade relations with China and pass it as a package. Avoiding war is the main consideration. If there is war, there will be no trade with China.

It is time to show some spine and stop appeasing the mainland regime. The next president should be prepared to tell Beijing it must renounce the use of force if it wants normal relations, and back up those words by selling Taiwan the arms it needs for self-defense.

James T. Hackett is a contributing writer to The Washington Times based in San Diego.

-------- colombia

[Some reason at last!]

Colombia Sets Negotiations With a Second Rebel Group
Army Forces to Pull Out Of Guerrilla Stronghold

By Steven Dudley
The Washington Post
Wednesday, April 26, 2000; Page A28
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-04/26/099l-042600-idx.html

BOGOTA, Colombia, April 25-President Andres Pastrana has launched a new set of peace negotiations, this time with Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group, and vowed to pull the army out of parts of a central mountain range to foster the peace process and give the guerrillas free range.

The talks with the National Liberation Army--known by its Spanish initials as ELN--will run parallel to separate negotiations the government is conducting with the largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in another demilitarized zone in the south that is controlled by the FARC without interference from the army.

"Today, everyone has to make compromises," Pastrana said in an impassioned speech on Monday in which he announced the new initiative. "We have to break the circle of violence." Over the last 10 years, more than 10,000 people have perished in Colombia's civil conflict.

To provide a positive atmosphere for the talks, the Colombian military will evacuate hundreds of soldiers from the municipalities of San Pablo, Cantagallo and Yondo at the base of the San Lucas mountain range in central Colombia. The area is a traditional ELN stronghold but has been under siege in the past several years by right-wing paramilitary groups formed by landowners and business interests to combat the guerrillas in concert with the army.

With 600 armed men operating in the zone, the paramilitary groups have gained control over much of the region, including the urban center of San Pablo and the three municipalities just north of it. The ELN guerrillas are fighting the militia units for control of an estimated 62,500 acres of coca, the raw material for cocaine, that is grown and processed in the area.

Paramilitary leaders said they would defy the government's plan to start talks in the zone. "Any region that is demilitarized for the ELN cannot be used to expand their terrorist acts," they said in a letter sent to the government's peace commissioner.

Such criticism has also plagued negotiations between government officials and leaders of the FARC rebel group, which has been accused of using the zone under its control in southern Colombia to launch offensives, stockpile weapons and expand its drug-trafficking activities.

Earlier this year, thousands of small farmers and their families blocked the main highway through the region Pastrana has proposed as a new demilitarized zone to protest violence there. Now many residents expressed disillusionment over the government's surprise announcement, fearing the ELN will take advantage of the absence of the military and seek revenge on those they consider paramilitary collaborators of the right-wing militia groups.

"Forget about it," one resident of San Pablo said on a local news broadcast. "Here we won't allow a demilitarized zone."

Many claim that the FARC is summarily executing people in the area under its control and will not allow international observers in the zone to verify such reports. FARC leaders told the government human rights ombudsman's office that the group has killed 11 people since early 1999 but that 10 were right-wing militiamen and one was committing "fraud."

In his speech, Pastrana emphasized that the ELN will allow civilian authorities to remain in the area where the talks will take place. Teams of national and international observers also will monitor the negotiations as they proceed. In addition, the accord calls for a "national convention" that would incorporate labor unions, nongovernmental groups and civilians into the process, he said.

The government's announcement came after more than a year of preliminary talks between the two sides and increased military action on the part of the ELN. In April of last year, the rebels hijacked an airliner on a local flight and took the 41 passengers and crew members hostage after forcing the plane to land in the San Lucas mountain range. The ELN released eight of the remaining 14 hostages from that flight last week in an attempt to facilitate the accord reached on Monday.

The Clinton administration, responding to Pastrana's initiative, said that "the government of Colombia must be free to make its own decisions on what will yield progress in the peace process."

---


-------- colombia

House Approves Massive Aid Package
Colombia Action Moves to Senate

Colombia section from the Latin America Working Group's April 2000 Legislative Update:
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 14:03:44 -0400
From: Paul Wolf -paulwolf@icdc.com

HOUSE APPROVES MASSIVE AID PACKAGE FOR COLOMBIAN MILITARY-- But Great Debate Lays the Basis for Future Challenges to the Policy

The emergency supplemental appropriations bill including the Colombia aid package passed the House March 30th with a vote of 263-146. The package was not significantly improved, although some changes will be noted below, remaining a primarily military aid package without strong human rights conditions. While not unexpected, this marks the advancement of a US policy that returns us to the days of aid to brutal militaries in Central and South America.

However, the Colombia package, once considered unassailable, met considerable resistance in the House. The debate and votes on certain amendments reflect the concerted work by US civil society organizations and constituents concerned about growing US military involvement in Colombia. Led by David Obey (D-MI), the ranking democrat on the Appropriations Committee, critics of the package's militarized approach to the drug problem led a vigorous two-day debate, with Speaker Hastert (R-IL) weighing in passionately on the other side. The debate revolved

first around drug policy, with critics of the package arguing the need for domestic treatment on request, and demand reduction as a much more efficient and cost-effective way of combating drug abuse than supply-side strategies. Rep. Pelosi (D-CA), ranking democrat on the foreign operations subcommittee, repeatedly chastised Republican leadership for not allowing her amendment to add funding for domestic treatment programs to be brought to a vote. Rep. Kilpatrick (D-MI) spoke eloquently about the unmet needs for treatment in her district. It was quite an extraordinarily expansive debate on the what the best drug policy should be, ending with Gary Condit (D-CA) proclaiming that the United States was "in denial" and projecting our problems abroad. After meeting with coca growers in the Andes, he said, "I came to the conclusion that the drug problem is our problem, and for us to solely blame it on those folks is misplaced. Today, we have an opportunity, I think, to correct that. We could do a great service to this country by making sure that we fight the war on our terms and in this country and not in somebody else's country."

In the past, members have not spoken out nearly so strongly against the militarized drug strategy in Latin America, fearing that opponents would label them "soft on drugs." The emphasis on the need for domestic treatment programs gave members the opportunity to show their concern about the impact of drug abuse while opposing a strategy based on military might.

Some members argued strongly that this could be a military quagmire and that the House had not pursued a full debate on what could be a momentous step. Rep. Obey brought up the Vietnam analogy through a reference to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution where there was a similar lack of debate regarding US intervention. "I would urge Members not to make the same mistake that was made on this House floor in the Gulf of Tonkin." Rep. Skelton (D-MS), ranking democrat on the Armed Services committee, cited his concerns about getting entangled in a counterinsurgency war. The push into southern Colombia is a plan that "is one that is aimed at the guerillas and not one that is aimed primarily at eradicating the drug traffic.".. The strategy "is an erroneous one, is one that will last some 6 years and may cause us well to find ourselves involved in a guerilla warfare.. ... I doubt the American people would support a counterinsurgency campaign, and yet that is where we are headed."

Third, the human rights issues were raised repeatedly, in particular the ties between Colombia's army and the paramilitary forces. These were raised strongly by Reps. McGovern, Moakley, and McKinney, while Rep. Baldwin and others raised concerns about the impact of a military aid package on the peace process.

Supporters of the package stressed the need to fight drugs, the bravery of the Colombian police forces, the brutality of the guerrillas, and the good will of the Colombian government. The illusion that this is solely a war about drugs slipped a bit in Rep. Burton's (R-IN) speech: "...this is the time to send the money to Colombia to fight the guerillas and also to do the other things that need to be done as the time goes by, but fight the guerillas now, defeat them as they have in Peru and Bolivia and to make absolutely sure that we do not have to send our young people down there in the future."

Amendments: Mr. Obey's amendment to remove the "push into Southern Colombia" - the military side of the package - and provide for greater time to debate this issue lost, 186-239. The vote count is below. While the amendment lost, it fared much better than anticipated on this relatively new issue. Despite the fact this was a White House-sponsored foreign policy, most of the Democratic House leadership voted for this amendment (Obey, Pelosi, minority leader Gephardt, minority whip David Bonior, Armed Forces ranking member Skelton).

Trouble in Connecticut: It is interesting to note that the entire Connecticut delegation voted against the Obey amendment, despite their liberal voting records. Connecticut produces the Blackhawk helicopters, a large part of the military aid in the package. To see records of campaign contributions from United Technologies, owner of Blackhawk manufacturer Sikorsky, check the Center for Responsive Politics webpage. Only Rep. Shays (R-CT) had a slightly different vote record on the package, voting against the Obey amendment but also against the whole supplemental emergency bill. If you are from Connecticut, ask your member of Congress to explain his/her vote against the Obey amendment.

Other amendments: Mr. Sawyer (D-OH) with the support of Mr. Farr (D-CA) offered an amendment to ensure that at least $50 million in the package is used for humanitarian assistance for the displaced, which was accepted without opposition. He should be thanked for this effort.

Mr. Ramstad (R-MN) with Mr. Campbell (R-CA) offered an amendment to strike out the entire Colombia package. This lost 159 to 262 - but again a surprisingly strong showing. While this amendment contrasted with our goal to actively support a Colombia aid package without military assistance, the motivations behind this amendment were sound - to oppose a militarized, ineffective supply-side drug policy.

The most problematic amendment was the Gilman-Delahunt-Goss-Farr human rights conditionality, which won overwhelming support. Many members supported it because they wished to vote for human rights conditions, and it showed strong bipartisan concern about human rights in Colombia, including the army's record. However, the language is weak. It calls for aid to be conditioned on certain human rights and counternarcotics criteria, but it allows the President to waive this under "extraordinary circumstances," which is vague and will doubtless be invoked. Moreover, it does not specifically address the issue of military-paramilitary links. From our perspective the conditions allowed members to feel better about the package without the likelihood that they will be of much practical use. Reps. Obey and Pelosi strongly opposed the conditions on those grounds.

Throughout the course of the debate, the following members­and others--showed leadership on our issues by making speeches or offering or strongly supporting amendments: Obey, Pelosi, McGovern, Moakley, Kilpatrick, George Miller, Serrano, Schakowsky, Ramstad, Campbell, Sawyer, McKinney, Lowey, Skelton, Schakowsky, Baldwin, Taylor (MS), Paul, Olver, Woolsey, Condit. Reps. Obey, Pelosi, McGovern and Moakley in particular worked tremendously hard on the floor. See the debate at:

www.ciponline.org/colombia/aid.

The size of the total supplemental reached $13 billion with an amendment to add $4 billion in general defense spending receiving overwhelming support. The supplemental also included disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Floyd.

Action: It is very important to thank your member of Congress if he/she voted YES to the Obey amendment. You may also want to thank members who voted YES to the Ramstad/ Campbell amendments.

Yes to the Obey amendment: Abercrombie, Ackerman, Allen, Andrews, Archer, Bachus, Baird, Baldacci, Baldwin, Barrett (WI), Becerra, Bentsen, Bereuter, Berry, Blagojevich, Blumenauer, Bonior, Boucher, Boyd, Brady (TX), Brown (OH), Camp, Campbell, Capps, Capuano, Carson, Castle, Chabot, Clayton, Coburn, Collins, Combest, Conyers, Cook, Costello, Cox, Coyne, Crowley, Davis (IL), Deal, DeFazio, DeGette, Delahunt, Deutsch, Dickey, Dicks, Dingell, Dixon, Doggett, Duncan, Ehlers, Engel, Eshoo, Evans, Farr, Filner, Fossella, Frost, Ganske, Gephardt, Gutierrez, Gutknecht, Hall (OH), Hall (TX), Hastings (FL), Hefley, Hill (MT), Hilleary, Hilliard, Hinchey, Hoekstra, Holt, Hooley, Horn, Hoyer, Hulshof, Inslee, Istook, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Jenkins, Johnson, E. B., Jones (OH), Kaptur, Kennedy, Kildee, Kilpatrick, Kind (WI), Kingston, Kleczka, LaFalce, Largent, Leach, Lee, Levin, Lewis (GA), Lipinski, Lofgren, Lowey, Luther, Manzullo, Markey, Matsui, McCarthy, (MO), McDermott, McGovern, McInnis, McKinney, McNulty, Meehan, Meek (FL), Metcalf, Millender-McDonald, George Miller, Minge, Mink, Moakley, Moran (KS), Morella, Nadler, Neal, Nethercutt, Oberstar, Obey, Olver, Owens, Pastor, Paul, Payne, Pelosi, Petri, Phelps, Pitts, Porter, Price (NC), Ramstad, Rivers, Rodriguez, Roemer, Rohrabacher, Roybal-Allard, Royce, Rush, Ryan (WI), Sabo, Sanchez, Sanders, Sanford, Schaffer, Schakowsky, Scott, Sensenbrenner, Serrano, Shadegg, Sherman, Skelton, Slaughter, Smith (MI), Spratt, Stark, Stearns, Stenholm, Stupak, Tancredo, Taylor (MS), Thompson (CA), Thornberry, Tiahrt, Tierney, Toomey, Towns, Udall (CO), Udall (NM), Upton, Velazquez, Vento, Visclosky, Watt (NC), Waxman, Weiner, Weldon (PA), Wexler, Wicker, Woolsey, Wu, Wynn.

Yes to Ramstad-Campbell amendment: Abercrombie (D-HI), Archer (R-TX), Baird (D-WA), Baldwin (D-WI), Barcia (D-MI), Barrett (D-WI), Bereuter (R-NE), Berry (D-AR), Blumenauer (D-OR), Bonior (D-MI), Boucher (D-VA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Corrine Brown (D-FL), Camp (R-M), Campbell (R-CA), Capuano (D-MA), Carson (D-IN), Castle (R-DE), Chabot (R-OH), Clay (D-MO), Clayton (D-NC), Coburn (R-OK), Collins (R-GA), Combest (R-TX), Condit (D-CA), Conyers (D-MI), Cook (R-UT), Costello (D-IL), Coyne (D-PA), Cox (R-CA), Danner (D-MO), Davis (D-IL), Deal (R-GA), DeFazio (D-OR), DeMint (R-SC), Dickey (R-AR), Doggett (D- TX), Duncan (R-TN), Ehlers (R-MI), Ehrlich (R-MD), Eshoo (D-CA), Evans (D-IL), Fattah (D-PA), Filner (D-CA), Foley (R-FL), Ford (D-TN), Fossella (R-NY), Ganske (R-IA), Gekas (R-PA), Goodling (R-PA), Graham (R-SC), Green (R-WI), Gutierrez (D-IL), Gutknecht (R-MN), Hall (D-OH), Hastings (D-FL), Hefley (R-CO), Hill (R-MT), Hilleary (R-TN), Hinchey (D-NY), Hoekstra (R-MI), Holt (D-NJ), Horn (R-CA), Hulshof (R-MO), Inslee (D-WA), Istook (R-OK), Jackson (D-IL), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Jones (D-OH), Kaptur (D-OH), Kelly (R-NY), Kennedy (D-RI), Kilpatrick (D-MI), Kind (D-WI), Kleczka (D-WI), Kucinich (D-OH), Largent (R-OK), LaTourette (R-OH), Leach (R-IA), Lee (D-CA), Linder (R-GA), John Lewis (D-GA), Lipinski (D-IL), Lofgren (D-CA), Luther (D-MN), Manzullo (R-IL), Markey (D-MA), Matsui (D-CA), McCarthy (D-MO), McDermott (D-WA), McGinnis (R-CO), McGovern (D-MA), McKinney (D-GA), McNulty (D-NY), Meehan (D-MA), Carrie Meek (D-FL), Metcalf (R-WA), George Miller (D-CA), Minge (D-MN), Mink (D-HI), Moakley (D-MA), Moran (R-KS), Morella (R-MD), Nadler (D-NY), Neal (D- MA), Norwood (R-GA), Nussle (R-IA), Oberstar (D-MN), Obey (D-WI), Olver (D-MA), Owens (D-NY), Paul (R-TX), Payne (D-NJ), Pelosi (D-CA), Peterson (D-MN), Petri (R-WI), Phelps (D-IL), Pitts (R-PA), Porter (R-IL), Ramstad (R-MN), Rivers (D-MI), Roemer (D-IN), Rohrabacher (R-CA), Royce (R-CA), Ryan (R-WI), Sabo (D-MN), Salmon (R-AZ), Sanchez (D-CA), Sanders (I-VT), Sanford (R-SC), Scarborough (R-FL), Schaffer (R-CO), Schakowsky (D-IL), Scott (D-Newport News,VA), Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Serrano (D-NY), Simpson (R-ID), Nick Smith (R-MI), Stark (D-CA), Stearns (R-FL), Stupak (D-MI), Sununu (R-NH), Tancredo (R-CO), Terry (R-NE), Thompson (D-CA), Tiahrt (R-KS), Tierney (D-MA), Toomey (R-PA), Udall (D-CO), Udall (D-NM), Upton (R-MI),Visclosky (D-Gary, IN), Walden (R-OR), Waters (D-CA), Watt (D-NC), Waxman (D-CA), Wicker (R-MS), Woolsey (D-CA), Wu (D-OR)

Colombia Action Moves to Senate

Majority leader Trent Lott (R-MS) refuses to move the bill containing the Colombia package, defense spending and disaster relief as an emergency supplemental appropriations, citing budget concerns over its $13 billion size. This has slowed consideration of the bill in the Senate. However, the Colombia and Kosovo aid packages are likely to be attached as an amendment to the regular foreign operations appropriations bill, which will be "marked up" by the foreign operations subcommittee in early or mid-May.

Action: Call your senators and ask them to:

1) Oppose the military portion of the Colombia aid package.

2) Support positive amendments to the package that cut, shift or strongly condition military assistance to Colombia or add funding for drug treatment programs at home.

3) Express their concerns for human rights in Colombia during the Senate debate.

HOW TO CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121, or look up your members of Congress on the Internet: www.house.gov or www.senate.gov

TALKING POINTS

This aid package will not only pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the most abusive military in the Western Hemisphere, but it will almost certainly destabilize fragile peace negotiations and undermine support of a negotiated settlement. To avoid getting the United States more deeply involved with Colombia’s infamous armed forces, I ask you to oppose aid to the Colombian army due to human rights concerns, especially army links at a regional and local level to brutal paramilitary forces. Instead, I urge you to support a substantial positive aid package for Colombia, including: humanitarian relief for people displaced by violence; crop substitution programs for small farmers to switch from coca to legal crops; economic assistance; programs to strengthen Colombian government investigations into human rights violations and drug trafficking; aid for civil society efforts for human rights and peace. Finally, because the United States "War on Drugs" is one that must be fought at home, I ask you to increase funding for drug treatment and prevention programs here in our own country.

For more information or to subscribe to the Update: contact Latin America Working Group, lawg@lawg.org, (202) 546-7010

-------- cuba

Culture Briefs
Useful idiots

Washington Times
April 26, 2000
http://www.washtimes.com/culture/default-2000426214536.htm

"Back in 1962, Fidel Castro was surely saddened when his Soviet overseers rejected his suggestion that they launch nuclear missiles from Cuba at the United States. . . .

"While Fidel never got to experience the joy of watching millions of Americans perish in a nuclear holocaust, he can find some satisfaction in the knowledge that a few of those spared that awful fate have gone on to serve him dutifully in Bill Clinton's White House.

"Take Janet Reno. The attorney general . . . is so 'preoccupied' with sending Elian back to Castro that she works 14-hour days at the Justice Department to make it possible. Or Greg Craig. The president's impeachment lawyer hustled the Cuban government for the opportunity to represent Elian's father, Juan Miguel, here in the United States.

"And then there's Irwin Redlener, the pediatrician and former member of Mrs. Clinton's White House Task Force on Health Care Reform. Dr. Redlener has diagnosed little Elian as a victim of psychological abuse at the hands of his American relatives. Never mind that Redlener has never actually met Elian. . . .

"On April 15, at the Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C., America got a glimpse of how Juan Miguel's hosts deal with dissent. Annoyed by a crowd of Cuban-American protesters, a group of 15 men inside the mission ran outside and pummeled the demonstrators so severely that several required treatment at a local hospital. . . .

"Not that Dr. Redlener will take note. Like Janet Reno and Greg Craig, he is a diligent minion of Castro's totalitarianism - a 'useful idiot,' as Lenin once called his Western accomplices."

- Chris Weinkopf, writing on "Useful Idiots Hard at Work," Monday in Front Page at www.frontpagemag.com

http://www.frontpagemag.com


-------- depleted uranium

DEPLETED URANIUM PROTESTERS CONVICTED OF TRESPASS

April 26, 2000
From: Dan Fahey - mtpdu@dclink.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: John LaForge at Nukewatch

Minnetonka, MN--Sixty-three human rights, peace and anti-war activists were convicted of trespass following a 2 1/2-hour bench trial in Hennepin County District Court here.

The group walked onto the property of Alliant Techsystems, Inc. Nov. 1, 1999 to protest the company's manufacture of depleted uranium-238 (DU) weapons.

The demonstrators, were all fined $25, except for ten who'd spent more than eight hours in custody after their arrest. They were sentenced to time served.

Char Madigan, a peace activist with Minnesota Alliant Action and the Midwest Institute for Social Transformation, said the defendants had "won the lowest fine ever," in the long series of protests at the company's gates.

Judge Gary Larson appeared to listen patiently as seven of the defendants testified as representatives of the larger group. Several testified to the international and U.S. Air Force laws that forbid the use of poison or poisoned weapons in war. The argument was presented as an affirmative defense known as a "claim of right." Trespass is permitted in Minnesota law if the defendant can show that some higher authority allows the intrusion.

In spite of testimony regarding the international treaties and U.S. military law that prohibit the government from employing weapons such as "poison gas and all analogous materials, liquids or devices," or weapons that "kill our wound treacherously" or that "cause serious or long-term damage to the natural environment," the Judge ruled that the claim of right had not been established.

The Constitution of the United States holds that treaty law is the "supreme law of the land" and that it binds "every judge in every state."

Alliant Techsystems assembled 15 million so-called PGU-14 rounds, a "depleted uranium penetrator" for the A-10 Warthog, the U.S./NATO plane used to shoot DU munitions into Kosovo in 1999, and into Iraq in 1991.

Depleted uranium is radioactive and toxic U-238, a nuclear waste material left over from the manufacture of nuclear weapons and nuclear reactor fuel. It is used by the US Air Force to pierce armor plate and destroy tanks. When it smashes a target, the DU burns and turns into a fine mist of toxic and radioactive uranium oxide, which can drift 25 miles and can lodge in the lungs and liver where it can cause cancer, birth defects and immune dysfunction.

----

Congressman Hall's Remarks on Humanitarian Aid to Iraq
(Calls for more effective response to suffering of Iraqi people)

April 24, 2000
http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/iraq0424.htm

Congressman Tony Hall, Democrat of Ohio, says Iraq's people are suffering terribly and he has called on the U.S. for a more effective response to their suffering. Hall visited Iraq April 16-20, touring hospitals, schools, clinics and water-treatment plants in Baghdad, Basra, Babylon, Samawah and Nasiriyah.

"I left Iraq convinced that a great deal more could be done to address its people's humanitarian needs, and I am determined to do all I can to persuade the U.S. Government to take these steps," he said April 24 at a press briefing on his trip.

Hall, who is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Hunger, co-founder on the steering committee of the Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors and is chairman of the Congressional Hunger Center, said delays in the delivery of humanitarian supplies and equipment to Iraq must stop. He also said he was troubled by Iraq's recent attempt to reject Canada's offer of a significant contribution to UNICEF's operations there.

Hall called upon the government of Iraq and other governments to allow more humanitarian workers to go to Iraq to deal with the health and economic crises there.

The Congressman said one in six children in Iraq shows signs of malnutrition and 10 percent of the children in the areas of the country controlled by Saddam Hussein are classified as "wastie" or those who have actually stopped growing. He noted that in Iraq, the "infant mortality rate is higher than any other place in the world."

Additionally, he said the Iraqi population has been exposed to the six major diseases that cause mortality as well as polio and cholera and he urged the surrounding countries to help because it is in their self-interest to protect themselves from these deadly diseases. Hall also called for the World Health Organization or some other independent scientific body to find out why there is high incidence of leukemia in southern Iraq.

Hall said "sanctions clearly have played a role in Iraqis' suffering," but "it would be irresponsible to lift the sanctions." He expressed concern that Iraq continues to pose a threat to its neighbors with its weapons of mass destruction and suggested that if Iraq eliminated its weapons of mass destruction and kept its promises made after the Gulf war to abide by the U.N. resolutions, "perhaps that would prompt good faith measures by the United Nations -- such as adding a sunset provision to some of the economic sanctions."

Hall, who is a long-time humanitarian activist, was in 1998 and 1999 nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his hunger legislation and for his proposal for a Humanitarian Summit in the Horn of Africa.

He has worked actively to improve human rights conditions around the world, especially in the Philippines, East Timor, Paraguay, South Korea, Romania, and the former Soviet Union. In 1983 he founded the Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors. He was the principal U.S. nominator of East Timor Bishop Carlos Belo, winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize.

Following is the text of Hall's remarks:

Congressman Tony P. Hall U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 April 24, 2000

HALL CALLS FOR SMARTER U.N. SANCTIONS THAT SPARE INNOCENT IRAQIS

Suffering -- especially among children -- is real and severe, says first US official to examine Iraq's humanitarian situation since Gulf War

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Tony Hall, D-Ohio, today called for an end to efforts to demonize Iraq's people - and for a more effective response to their suffering from officials charged with supervising Iraq's purchase of humanitarian supplies. He also said that lifting sanctions at this point would be irresponsible.

Hall visited Iraq April 16-20, touring hospitals, schools, clinics and water-treatment plants in Baghdad, Basra, Babylon, Samawah and Nasiriyah. He was accompanied in Iraq by representatives of the Red Crescent, Red Cross, UNICEF, and others and met with aid workers, Western diplomats, and Iraq's Minister of Health. His statement on his trip to Iraq follows:

"Iraq's people are suffering terribly, and it was heartbreaking to see their pain firsthand. I left Iraq convinced that a great deal more could be done to address its people's humanitarian needs, and I am determined to do all I can to persuade the U.S. Government to take these steps.

"But, like the majority of American citizens, I remain concerned about the military threat Iraq continues to pose to its neighbors and the world -- and convinced that until progress is made on eliminating weapons of mass destruction, lifting sanctions would be irresponsible.

"I wish that I could support lifting sanctions: many religious leaders, aid workers, and other people I respect oppose them. I am troubled, though, that some opponents of sanctions don't focus as much attention on Iraq's government as I believe they should.

"While sanctions clearly have played a role in Iraqis' suffering, though, lifting them would not provide much comfort to citizens there. If Iraq's government would show it is serious about easing its people's suffering - instead of using their problems to support its bid to end sanctions - it would be easier for me to see sanctions as the primary culprit. Or, if Iraq would show good faith in keeping the promises it made at the end of the Gulf War, perhaps that would prompt good faith measures by the United Nations -- such as adding a sunset provision to some of the economic sanctions.

"I am hopeful that Iraq is realizing the long-term human cost of its strategies, and I will look for signs that it will set more humane priorities in the near future. For example, trying to mask dual-use or other prohibited items by inserting them into contracts for humanitarian goods is counterproductive. Iraq's government knows those efforts only result in the delay of needed food, medicine and other humanitarian items. I was also troubled by Iraq's recent attempt to reject Canada's offer of a significant contribution to UNICEF's operations there.

"That said, I also believe the U.N.'s Sanctions Committee, and particularly its U.S. representatives, ought to use much better judgment. For example, American officials tell me that only a small percentage of items raise security concerns -- but those concerns hold up entire shipments of humanitarian goods. Surely, the U.N. could employ a line-item veto approach -- allowing what is permitted under the sanctions, barring what is not, and paying only for what is sent to Iraq. If the U.N. Sanctions Committee's top priority were humanitarian, as I believe it should be, this would be a way to quickly resolve many of the causes of Iraqis' difficulties.

"I appreciate the high priority my country puts on security considerations. But there are humanitarian standards that are equally central to America's character. There also are political realities that should make us think twice about the wisdom of a crippled nation in this dangerous Middle East neighborhood. I hope that U.S. policymakers can better balance these competing concerns and redouble efforts to heal this festering sore.

"There are some confidence-building measures the United States could take, to demonstrate its concern for Iraqis' suffering. For example, I hope our government will support a scientific study by the World Health Organization of the effects of depleted uranium (DU) and other potential pollutants on Iraqi civilians -- who are suffering very high rates of leukemia. Not only could work like this engage representatives of the international community and Iraqis in constructive work together; it also could yield health benefits for American veterans of the Gulf War as well as Iraqi civilians.

"I fear that no matter how quickly sanctions are lifted, the future of most of the people I met in Iraq will be bleak. That is because its children are in bad shape, with a quarter of them underweight and one in 10 wasting away because of hunger and disease. The leading cause of childhood death, diarrhea, is 11 times more prevalent in Iraq than elsewhere - and while polio has been wiped out throughout the Mideast, it has returned to plague Iraq's people. Schools and water systems -- the infrastructure any nation's future depends upon -- are decrepit and hospitals lack basic medicine and equipment. Ordinary civilians have exhausted their resources and their health trying to survive on $2-6 per month.

"The country's isolation has made it easy for some to demonize its people, and for Iraq's government to denounce Westerners. Blocking Iraqis' access to outside information contributes nothing to positive change, and this policy's result is innocent people who seem angry and past hoping for a different life. A Christian minister working in Iraq summed up the situation this way: 'The children in Iraq no longer know how to dream,' he said.

"It will take Iraqi people a generation to recover from their present situation. Sanctions imposed by the United Nations are partly to blame, but it is the stalemate - and not the sanctions - that causes Iraqis to suffer. I want to see all concerned look harder for ways to rebuild the confidence needed to end this stalemate.

"Finally, I want to commend the superb work that UNICEF, Care, and other organizations are doing under difficult circumstances. I particularly appreciated the efforts of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society in helping to make my trip a success."

Hall first became involved in humanitarian work when he served in the Peace Corps 30 years ago. In recent years, he has focused his legislative and other efforts on fighting hunger and the other problems that affect the poor of the United States and other nations and has recently visited North Korea, Sierra Leone, Laos, Burma, Cambodia and Sudan.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Dep't of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)

----

Depleted Uranium is a low level radiation hazard
http://www.llrc.org/depleted_uranium.htm

This widely used waste product of the nuclear industry is causing cancer and monster births and is implicated in Gulf War Syndrome

Our calculations on a separate page on this site show that the radiological hazard of DU is seriously underestimated.

80,000 Gulf War personnel have been suffering from a mystery illness. The population of Iraq, in the years following the war have developed the same illnesses and in addition the rates of cancer and birth deformities have increased enormously.

Iraqi baby, a victim of DU, born with no nose, mouth, eyes, anus, or genitals and with flipper limbs, a common result of radiation exposure in utero. Photo by Karen Robinson

Various unpersuasive explanations have been advanced for 'Gulf-War Syndrome'; they range from side effects of vaccines against nerve and biological agents to pesticides or oil-well fires. It has, though, been fairly clear from quite early on that we are dealing with the usual spectrum ofdiseases related to radiation exposure. The question that is almost never asked is how Uranium-238, generally believed to be of little radiological significance, can have caused such profound effects.

The amount of Depleted Uranium scattered around the war zone is given as 350 tonnes. This figure is for anti-tank ammunition. But if we include the nose cones of Cruise missiles and helicopter rotors the figure is nearer 750 tonnes. This is 27 TeraBecquerels (TBq)of radioactivity, 1/50th of the total alpha releases from Sellafield over its entire operating history. Uranium is a very reactive metal, easily oxidising to U3O8 and UO2. A single 120mm Abrams tank DU shell contains 3kg of U-238 (111MBq of activity) and there is 275g (10.1MBq) in a 30mm GAU-8A A-10 Thunderbolt cannon shell. These 'penetrators' explode on impact, with up to 80% conversion to tiny long-lived glassy beads of Uranium Oxide from 1 micron to 5 microns diameter. These 'hot particles' can travel for very large distances, even hundreds of miles, under the influence of wind, fire and electrostatic action. The smaller particles can easily pass through the lung into the blood and lymphatic system.

There is also a gamma dose hazard to those handling shells. A Yugoslavian conference proceedings reports that DU shells fired in the Bosnian war by the 'Allies' gave '1.2 alpha and 35.9 beta particles per second leading to skin changes and necrosis inside 80 hours.' US army figures admit 2.5mGy/hr at the surface of a DU shell, a dose equivalent to 20 Chest X-rays/hr.

In Iraq, the population is slowly dying from radiation poisoning. From documents LLRC has obtained, the military were aware of the risk, though its magnitude was unclear.

On 30th July 1999 LLRC took part in a conference on DU in Iraq, organised by George Galloway MP and the Mariam Appeal. From 30th July onward the Guardian has carried reports, a rubbishing article by Duncan Campbell and correspondence. Here is LLRC's contribution.

The Low Level Radiation Campaign supports the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium. Contact CADU care of Greater Manchester and District CND, One World Centre, 6, Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS tel: +44 (0)161 834 8301 fax +44 (0)161 834 8187 email: gmdcnd@gn.apc.org

There is a lot of information about the (ab)uses of DU on http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0051.htm

The Laka Foundation has published an excellent book on military use of DU, and its true radiotoxic and chemotoxic properties. Contributions from Felicity Arbuthnot, Rosalie Bertell, Ray Bristow, Peter Diehl, Dan Fahey, Henk van der Keur, Daniel Robicheau. It is on http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium or contact Laka, Ketelhuisplein 43, 1054 RD Amsterdam, Netherlands. tel. +31 20 616 8294 email: laka@laka.antenna.nl

Send email to: bramhall@llrc.org with questions or comments about this web site.

Links to other pages on DU isotope concentrations
http://www.llrc.org/duhazard.htm

thoracic lymph node doses
http://www.llrc.org/duparticletable.htm#table

and Official ignorance of these doses
http://www.llrc.org/rat322.htm#simmonds

LLRC unbaffled by bullsh
http://www.llrc.org/medact.htm

Guardian letters
http://www.llrc.org/duncan.htm

Landmine in your lungs
http://www.llrc.org/landmine.htm

Radioactive Times 3/1
http://www.llrc.org/rat311.htm#holdstock

----

Depleted uranium is always dangerous and should be banned

April 14, 2000
Representative Tony Hall,
Letters to the editor/
THE BALTIMORE SUN
http://www.sunspot.net/content/cover/story?section=cover&pagename=story&storyid=1150320202517

Thanks to Carl Schoettler for his informative article "Battle over depleted-uranium arms" (Sun Journal, April 4). The caption on the accompanying photograph of a tank, however, was incorrect.

The Abrams tank is plated with depleted uranium, not because it's denser than lead, but because it's harder than steel. Lead is denser than steel, but no one would use such a soft metal for armor plate. Hardness is the governing factor.

The heavy weight of a uranium projectile, as well as its great hardness, causes it to penetrate just about any armor. More important, Col. Eric G. Daxon's assertion that uranium is not dangerous after its dust settles is misleading, because the dust constantly blows around with the winds.

The lead poisoning of thousands of Baltimore children, for instance, has been attributed to the dust that blows off windowsills from worn sash paint. Depleted-uranium is not only radioactive, but is a chemically toxic heavy metal similar to lead. It is unconscionable that the U.S. Army injects it into the environment, where it remains dangerous for thousands of years.

Lead shot has been outlawed in Maryland for good reason. Depleted uranium should be banned as an indiscriminate weapon whose victims will mainly be children and civilians.

Instead of jail time, Philip Berrigan and other protesters should be given an award for bringing this to public attention.

Richard Ochs Baltimore The writer is president of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Superfund Citizens Coalition. "There are some confidence-building measures the United States could take, to demonstrate its concern for Iraqis' suffering. For example, I hope our government will support a scientific study by the World Health Organization of the effects of depleted uranium (DU) and other potential pollutants on Iraqi civilians -- who are suffering very high rates of leukemia. Not only could work like this engage representatives of the international community and Iraqis in constructive work together; it also could yield health benefits for American veterans of the Gulf War as well as Iraqi civilians."

----

The first complete report on the consequences of the aggression on the environment

April 21, 2000
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2000-04/21/18545.html

Belgrade, April 21 - The report of the Yugoslav Ministry of development, science and environment on the consequences of the NATO bombardment on the FR of Yugoslavia's environment, including a chapter on the use of Depleted Uranium 238 was presented today at the Yugoslav government.

Speaking about the use of that kind of ammunition in the aggression against the FRY, Assistant Yugoslav Minister of Defense General Slobodan Petkovic stressed that during the war, the Yugoslav Army units carried out radiological and chemical inspection of the field of the U.S. A-10A airplane activity. The remnants of the ammunition filled with Depleted Uranium were discovered in wider region of Bujanovac, Vranje and Lustica peninsula in Boka Kotorska gulf in Montenegro.

The analysis of the contaminated land, carried out by the Vinca Institute for nuclear science, the Institute for protection of workers in Nis and the Military-medical academy, show that the area is contaminated in high degree, with specific activity of Depleted Uranium 238, which ranges to 235,000 becquerel per 1 kg of land.

On the basis of the consultations with the Vinca Institute for nuclear science, it was estimated that the activity of Depleted Uranium 238 of 200 becquerel per 1 kg of land was an allowable level of contamination, Petkovic stressed, explaining that the criterion was adopted in keeping with the average levels of natural concentration of Uranium 238 in land.

Stressing that it was not possible to carry out more detailed radiological and chemical inspection of Kosovo and Metohija, Petkovic said that, regarding the Yugoslav Army data, NATO A-10A airplanes were active on some 100 locations in Kosovo and Metohija, especially in the regions of Prizren, Urosevac, Pec, Djakovica, Decani and Djurakovac.

According to the Yugoslav Minister for development, science and environment Prof. Dr Nada Sljapic, the report is the testimony of the negative consequences of the NATO bombardment on our country's environment.

Stressing that the consequences cannot be considered as catastrophic for the entire country, but that it could be spoken about the extremely negative influence of the bombardment for certain industrial zones and chemical plants with toxic materials, Dr Sljapic pointed out that those facts give the aggression the character of "a chemical war against population and living creatures".

The chemical industry plants were bombed deliberately, and thanks to urgent activities of our experts, the catastrophic consequences on the environment were avoided or reduced, Dr Sljapic underscored.

She stressed that the aggression against the FRY was "flagrant violation of numerous principles of the international treaties and conventions in the field of the environment protection".

Great part of the report was based on technical reports of home and foreign experts, which represented the document parallel to the UN Report on Environment Protection (UNEP), she added, saying that the UN Report was unacceptable, not only because it did not include certain documentary section which would be in agreement with our expert analysis, but also because of the "unacceptable political views".

----

NATO Accused of Using Uranium Rounds
Yogoslav government sites environmental study

Friday April 21 10:13 PM ET,
By KATARINA KRATOVAC,
Associated Press Writer

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - NATO warplanes used depleted uranium rounds on eight sites in Yugoslavia during the alliance's 78-day bombing campaign last year, a government report Friday said.

A team of Yugoslav experts made the study on the environmental effects of the NATO air strikes launched to stop President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanians in the province of Kosovo.

The report comes a few months after NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson confirmed that U.S. jets operating in Kosovo last year fired the armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds on numerous missions.

Robertson said the rounds were used when American A-10 ground attack aircraft engaged armored vehicles - on about 100 missions in Kosovo. The military says depleted uranium is a dense metal that provides enhanced armor-piercing capability.

------- environment

Today's Featured Stories:
April 26, 2000
http://www.envirolink.org/environews/

Agencies Join To Fight Environmental Crimes -- Officials from the U-S Coast Guard, the F-B-I, U-S customs, and the E-P-A have signed an agreement that would allow the agencies to more actively pursue and prosecute those who break Great Lakes environmental laws. (Great Lakes Radio Consortium)

Calif. probes Arco on fuel tank upgrades -- California environment officials are probing whether oil company Atlantic Richfield Co. falsified public records to conceal that it had not done required safety improvements to its underground fuel storage tanks. (Reuters)

Clinton vetoes bill on nuclear waste disposal site -- President Clinton vetoed on Tuesday a bill to build a Nevada storage site for hazardous nuclear waste from U.S. commercial power plants, probably killing the proposal for the year. (Reuters)

Disruption Is Activists' Business -- Radical environmental groups try to inflict financial harm on companies they feel damage the ecosystem. The only thing is, there's no one person to blame. (LA Times)

French deputies back creation of environment agency -- France's lower house of parliament approved on Tuesday the creation of an environmental protection agency with a remit to protect public health. Lawmakers in the National Assembly unanimously approved the proposal by Green Party deputy Andre Aschieri to create the agency. (Reuters)

Frigid Arctic Circle Flights Key To Ozone Processes -- As people use more fossil fuels, ozone plumes form in polluted cities and drift around the world, and background levels continue to rise in the lower atmosphere. Scientists are concerned that an overburdened atmosphere may lose its ability to adequately cleanse itself. The peculiar chemistry of the Arctic spring is key to understanding ozone and pollution processes across the northern latitudes. (UniSci)

Iran says peaceful nuclear technology not shared -- Iran charged on Tuesday that industrialised nations are denying peaceful nuclear technology to developing countries in order to secure dominance in the field. (Reuters)

N.Korea said closer to ICBM than U.S. is to defense -- North Korea is much closer to inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability than the United States is to deploying an anti-missile defence, a senior U.S. arms control official said on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Tap water toxic, Argentine city says -- The Argentine city of Bahia Blanca has warned its 420,000 residents to avoid using tap water because it says it is laced with toxic bacteria that cause skin irritation and possibly neurological damage. (Reuters)

Windfall to big U.S. farmers, skimpy for environment -- Big farmers are sopping up 61 percent of U.S. farm subsidies, a larger share than ever, environmentalists said on Tuesday in advocating an annual $25,000 limit on supports that would go only to working farmers who need help. (Reuters)

All stories on the web at: http://www.envirolink.org/environews

This edition of the EnviroLink News Service is sponosored by The Green Marketplace (http://www.greenmarketplace.com). If you would like information on how your company or organization can become a sponsor, please contact newsdesk@envirolink.org.

-------- france

BORDEAUX : 300 French peace activists against tests in lab !

Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 17:29:47 +0200

300 activists rallyed on last Sunday on front of the gates of Laser Megajoule lab, near Bordeaux (France). Daniel Durand (French Peace Movement) and Dominique Lanne (Stop Essais)took the floor. They said NO to the nuclear tests in lab and demand a immediate moratorium to the French government. They said also that France,Uk and USA had a particular responsability, one week before the opening of the NPT review Conference.

DANIEL DURAND Le Mouvement de la Paix (French Peace Movement) 139 bd Victor Hugo F93400 ST-OUEN Tel 33 1 40 12 09 12 - Fax 33 1 40 11 57 87 Web : http://www.mvtpaix.org

-------- germany

German Nuclear Phase-out Battle Spins into High Gear

April 26, 2000 (ENS)
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2000/2000L-04-26-03.html

BERLIN, Germany, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Saturday rebuffed a new attempt by three opposition-run state governments to derail the federal administration's nuclear phase-out policy.

It has simultaneously emerged that the European Commission has, for the first time, been drawn directly into the controversial German debate over nuclear power.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder addresses the delegates to the Fifth Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. (Photo courtesy Earth Negotiations Bulletin)

Schroeder's comments, in a newspaper interview, follow declarations by the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Socialist Union heads of the states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse that they would unite to fight the Social Democratic Party/Green federal government's nuclear phase-out.

In response, the chancellor threatened that future legislation requiring closure of Germany's 19 nuclear power stations would be drafted in such a way as to bypass the upper parliamentary house, Bundesrat, where the states are represented.

As the battle escalated, it also emerged late last week that the pro-nuclear head of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber, had complained to the head of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, over the federal government's plans. The Commission today released the text of Prodi's reply, sent on April 11.

In a letter to Prodi sent in February, Stoiber had claimed that, by forcing a phase-out of nuclear power, Germany would breach the 1957 Euratom treaty, which operates parallel to the European Union.

Stoiber also suggested that closing nuclear power stations would prevent Germany from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and alleged that the proposed eventual ban on nuclear transports would be in breach of internal market rules in the Euratom treaty.

President of the European Commission Romano Prodi of Italy (Photo courtesy European Commission)

Prodi's reply offers Stoiber no immediate help. In particular, he stresses that, even though the Euratom treaty aims at "promoting" nuclear power, "it is up to each member state to decide to introduce or maintain nuclear power as an energy source." His letter sidesteps the issue of implications of nuclear phase-out for greenhouse gas emissions.

This latest flurry of debate over German nuclear phase-out follows nearly a month in which little news has emerged over the state of sensitive "consensus" talks between the government and the power industry. The parties are next due to meet in early May, after an earlier government deadline to finalise an agreement by the end of February passed without a resolution. Chancellor Schroeder is now pushing for an end to the talks by the summer.

In related developments, the opposition Christian Democratic Union has stepped up its federal level opposition to nuclear phase-out, holding its own meetings with the nuclear industry Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a coalition of four German environmental groups has marked today's 14th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster by demanding that plans for nuclear phase-out be speeded up.

{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk}

----

Stasi used radioactive material to track opponents' movements

APonline BERLIN
March 18, 2000 4:53 p.m. EST
http://www.nando.net:80/24hour/adn/global/story/0,1970,500181962-500240701-501197654-0,00.html

Former East Germany's secret police, the Stasi, used radioactive material for years to track its opponents' activities, the office in charge of the Stasi's files announced Friday.

Many here suspect that political opponents of the former communist regime fell victim to the technique, dying of rare cancers after exposure to radiation.

Among other methods, the Stasi marked opponents with contaminated pins, the Stasi office said. The Stasi secretly slipped the pins into opponents' clothing.

In some cases, Stasi operatives used radioactive material in fluids to mark papers and money. They could then trace whether the items were stolen or used in contacts with the regime's opponents. In addition, the Stasi attached contaminated magnets to vehicles to trace where people traveled, the office said.

There was no indication, however, that radioactivity was used against political prisoners, the office said.

The most prominent suspected victim of the technique was East German dissident and writer Rudolf Bahro, who died of leukemia. The office said his manuscripts were apparently soaked with a radioactive liquid to trace how widely they were distributed.

Joachim Gauck, who heads the office, said prosecutors are investigating further to determine if criminal charges should be filed against former Stasi officers involved in the program.

-------- india / pakistan

India: 'Talks About Talks' Possible

APRIL 26, 08:43 EDT
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=ASIA&STORYID=APIS743E8O80

NEW DELHI, India (AP) - India's foreign minister said Wednesday that the government would consider holding ``talks about talks'' with Pakistan to avoid increasing tension between the two neighbors.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said Tuesday that India would not resume official peace talks with Pakistan.

But on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh told Parliament: ``We will examine the possibility of talks about talks ... to create an atmosphere which would not aggravate the situation.''

He apparently referred to low-level informal contacts.

Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has said he is willing to talk to India anytime and anywhere.

Both Pakistan and India demand full control over divided Kashmir. Official talks were disrupted last May when the two nuclear-armed states battled along the border and cease-fire line dividing Kashmir.

During his visit to South Asia in March, President Clinton urged both governments to talk over their differences.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 - two of them over Kashmir.

----

Bank Withholds Loans From Pakistan

APRIL 26, 12:28 EDT
By AMIR ZIA
Associated Press Writer
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=BUSINESS&STORYID=APIS743HI9O0

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - International sanctions to punish Pakistan for its nuclear program will likely cost Pakistan $1.68 billion in lost loans from the Asian Development Bank, a bank official said Wednesday.

Funds from a $2.8 billion four-year loan will begin to be disbursed this year, but Rinus Zijsvelt, the bank's resident representative said Pakistan won't see the entire loan unless sanctions are lifted.

The international community, led by the United States, imposed sanctions on Pakistan and India after the South Asian rivals conducted underground nuclear explosions in May 1998.

The Asian Development Bank is authorized to invest only in humanitarian projects, including health, water supply and rural development.

This year the bank will give $450 million to Pakistan for humanitarian projects. On average Pakistan gets about $650 million. Last year the bank gave Pakistan $13 million.

Sanctions prohibit investment in infrastructure and development projects, said Zijsvelt.

In January 1999, the United States partially lifted sanctions to help Pakistan avoid a default on its $32 billion of foreign debt.

The decision paved the way for the rescheduling of a $5 billion-plus loan from donor nations and commercial banks and also a $1.6 billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund.

But the IMF stopped payments on its loan to Pakistan in May 1999 after the ousted government of Nawaz Sharif failed to implement economic reforms.

Army Chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf overthrew Sharif's government on Oct. 12, accusing it of economic mismanagement and corruption.

Zijsvelt said Pakistan has to make good on its promises for economic reforms decentralization of power, boosting revenues, speedy privatization of state-run institutions and structural changes in financial, industrial and agriculture sectors.

-------- iran

Iranian Students Protest Crackdown on Newspapers

April 26, 2000
By SUSAN SACHS
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/042600iran-protest.html

TEHRAN, Iran, April 25 -- With the reformers they supported under siege by conservative judges and clerics, students at two Tehran universities held peaceful demonstrations today to denounce the widening crackdown on the nation's independent press.

As the students protested, a judge in the capital closed another liberal newspaper -- the 13th to fall silent on orders from hard-line judges in just two days. And another court issued an arrest warrant for a popular moderate cleric who was accused of insulting Islam because he attended a recent conference in Berlin on democracy.

Several reform-minded clerics are already in prison, convicted on similar charges, based on their open questioning of the Iranian religious establishment's political power.

With unease mounting here in the capital, the student rallies were watched with trepidation by reform leaders. They have repeatedly warned their supporters to avoid any disturbance that could bring even harsher retaliation from conservatives or delay the opening of a new reform-dominated Parliament next month.

The warnings appear to have been heeded, so far. But students at the Khajeh Naseer Technical University in the capital found a way to express themselves. "The people's silence," read one of their banners today, "is not a sign of their consent."

President Mohammad Khatami, whose pledges of wider political freedoms inspired the reform movement and an explosion of feisty newspapers, has also remained silent in the face of the recent assault on liberal newspapers, editors and clerics.

He has defended the notion of a free press in recent speeches but has not commented publicly on the closure of nearly every national newspaper that supports him.

The reform forces have been locked in a perilous war of nerves with their hard-line opponents for two months, since pro-Khatami candidates won a decisive majority in the first round of parliamentary elections on Feb. 18.

The reformist tide swept nearly every conservative incumbent out of office.

But since the first round, reformers have suffered a series of blows.

First, one of the president's closest allies, Saeed Hajjarian, was gunned down on a Tehran street, barely surviving a bullet fired into his face. The trial of eight men accused of the assassination attempt opened today in a Tehran court.

Although many of the reform newspapers speculated that the shooting was the work of anti-Khatami extremists in the security forces, one defendant told the court today that he fired the shot but did not act on behalf of any group.

The newspaper run by Mr. Hajjarian, which has the largest daily circulation in the country and is a constant irritant to the hard-liners, was ordered last night to shut down, although the order was rescinded.

The Khatami forces' preliminary election victory also has been chipped away by the ultra-conservative Council of Guardians, which has annulled the results of 11 provincial races won by pro-Khatami candidates, the latest one today.

What worries the reformers more than the voided races is the council's delay in certifying the election results and scheduling a final round of voting. The runoff will decide about 80 seats for which no candidate received 25 percent of the vote outright in the first round or for which the results have been nullified. Time is growing short: the new Parliament, which presumably will give Mr. Khatami his first working majority since his election in 1997, is supposed to begin work on May 28.

"What's important for us is the date," said Shahidi Shaban, the deputy minister for press in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and a Khatami ally. "It must be respected."

He said that under the law, the Parliament can open with two-thirds of its 290 members, a possibility that would require certification of all the seats decided in Tehran in the first round of elections.

But the conservative council is still recounting ballots in Tehran, where reformers won 29 out of 30 seats outright in the first round. The council secretary, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, predicted today that the recount would lead to "different results," according to a report from the official Iranian news agency IRNA.

So far, Mr. Khatami has been able to maneuver between the expectations of his supporters and the barely hidden hostility of the conservatives, who risk losing their grip on judicial and political power under a reformist program.

In Iran's system of government, which divides authority between competing institutions that answer to different groups, the president holds relatively few cards. He appoints the ministers, who must be approved by Parliament. But the military, security and courts are in the hands of a Muslim cleric who is called the supreme leader.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current leader, is widely considered a conservative but also a practical politician who recognizes Mr. Khatami's popularity.

Because he is the ultimate authority over the judiciary, though, many people have wondered what role he played in the recent ban on reformist newspapers and trials of reformist writers.

"Nothing is really clear," said one Western diplomat based in Tehran. "We are in a game that is going faster and faster. We all are waiting for the next play."

-------- israel

Israel Asked To Open Nuke Facilities

APRIL 26, 12:57 EDT
By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writer
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=MIDEAST&STORYID=APIS743HVU00

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Mideast countries denounced Israel's efforts to conceal its suspected nuclear arsenal and demanded it join 187 other countries in allowing international scrutiny of its nuclear facilities.

Egypt led the charge Tuesday at a conference reviewing progress and failures of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, saying Israel's secrecy threatened security in the Middle East.

Syria's U.N. ambassador, Mikhail Wehbe, picked up the sentiment today, saying Israel was defying the world by refusing to sign the treaty.

``Syria was the first to call from within these United Nations for the creation of an area free of all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, with nuclear weapons at the forefront,'' Wehbe told the conference. ``Israel did not respond to that call. Indeed, Israel has failed to respond to any call.''

Western intelligence reports say Israel has a significant nuclear stockpile, making it the only nuclear power in the Middle East. Israel has maintained a policy of ``nuclear opacity'' - a refusal to confirm or deny the possession of nuclear weapons.

Egypt's U.N. ambassador, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, urged delegates to single out Israel for its failure to commit to the treaty - the only country in the region that hasn't done so.

``The message must be crystal clear in expressing the danger to the security of the Middle East inherent in the continuation of the status quo,'' Gheit said.

He was backed Tuesday by Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and the ambassadors from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in demanding Israel agree to the treaty's terms and reveal its arsenal. Other countries made similar demands - but the Middle East states were the most vocal.

The nonproliferation treaty, which went into force in 1970, calls for nuclear weapons states to move toward disarmament and bars countries without nuclear arsenals from obtaining or developing them.

It requires its signatories to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify that their nuclear technologies are being used for peaceful means - not weapons.

Israel's deputy defense minister, Ephraim Sneh, told Israel army radio Tuesday that the country's policy would remain. ``We are not saying what we have or don't have, and the deterrence stems from the fact that others are kept guessing,'' he said.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador, Fawzi Shobokshi, denounced the strategy.

``Israel's position and all its justifications clearly contradict its calls for peace because true peace must be founded on trust and good intentions,'' he said.

The United States generally backs Israel, which is isolated and often criticized at the United Nations. It has tried to steer criticism from Israel's suspected nuclear arsenal while it works on peacemaking in the Middle East.

But the United States has agreed for the first time to allow the conference to create a subsidiary committee to deal with regional nuclear issues, including the Middle East, said Daniel Plesch, director of the British American Security Information Council, which is monitoring progress of the conference.

``The U.S. found it indefensible to not discuss Israel when it has India and Pakistan to talk about,'' said Plesch, referring to the nuclear weapons tests the two countries conducted in 1998.

It wasn't clear, however, if the United States would back calls by Mideast states to single Israel out by name in a resolution calling for a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East. At the last review conference in 1995, a resolution adopted made no specific reference of Israel.

``We have had some discussions on this subject. We have had some elements of understanding, but there's still more to be done,'' said John Holum, a senior U.S. adviser on arms control.

Only four countries - Israel, India, Pakistan and Cuba - haven't signed the nonproliferation treaty.

----

Syria: Nuclear Powers Aid Israel

April 26, 2000
By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-UN-Nuclear-Treaty.html

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Syria accused nuclear weapons states Wednesday of denying the rest of the world access to peaceful nuclear technology while helping Israel build up its nuclear arsenal.

The comments by Syria's U.N. ambassador, Mikhail Wehbe, appeared to be a swipe at the United States, which maintains tight export controls on its nuclear technology but signed an agreement with Israel in February allowing it access to some types of ``nonsensitive'' U.S. nuclear technology.

Wehbe said Israel's nuclear capability threatened security in the whole Middle East, where Israel is the only country that hasn't committed itself to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

``Until when will nuclear states continue to defend Israel?'' Wehbe asked a conference reviewing implementation of the treaty.

``How long will they continue to support what Israel takes on in defense of its rights, while Israel uses nuclear power for aggression, for expansion, and for entrenching occupation?''

Israel has refused to confirm or deny it has nuclear weapons, arguing that the mystery helps deter attack by others. But Western intelligence reports say Israel has a significant nuclear stockpile, making it the only nuclear power in the Middle East.

Delegates from several countries have singled out Israel as one of only four countries -- with Cuba, India and Pakistan -- that haven't signed the treaty.

But ministers from the Mideast have been the most vocal in demanding Israel open its nuclear facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency as called for by the treaty.

On Tuesday, Egypt led the charge that Israel's secrecy threatened stability in the Middle East, and hinted that it wanted to single out Israel in a resolution calling for a nuclear weapon-free zone in the region.

The Syrian ambassador, Wehbe, also accused nuclear powers Wednesday of failing to live up to the treaty's provision that countries without nuclear arms still be allowed to obtain nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

``At the same time, they covertly and overtly pour advanced technology in the direction of Israel,'' he told the conference.

Even more dangerous, he said, was the agreement ``between Israel and one nuclear state'' allowing Israeli scientists access to the nuclear establishments and tests.

When asked to comment about the Syrian accusations, U.S. officials referred to the comments made at the time of the February agreement. Then, assistant Energy Secretary Rose Gottemoeller said there was no risk of Israeli scientists obtaining access to U.S. nuclear weapons technology. The projects Israel would get access to will be ``strictly nonsensitive,'' she said at the time.

Israel cannot formally defend its position or comment on the criticism because the review conference is for the 187 countries that have signed onto the treaty.

----

U.N. to patrol Israel-Lebanon border

USA Today
April 26, 2000 - World
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon on Wednesday welcomed Israel's planned withdrawal in July and said that the power vacuum created by the pullout will be filled by U.N. peacekeepers. Beirut has previously expressed fears that an Israeli withdrawal could lead to violence involving Lebanon and Syria, the main power broker in the country. It also had refused to say whether it will allow U.N. forces or its own army to fan out along the border region as it is evacuated by Israel. But Prime Minister Salim Hoss says the withdrawal, which will end two decades of occupation, is ''a radical turning point for Lebanon.''

----

Israeli Warplanes Attack South Lebanon

New York Times
April 26, 2000
By Reuters
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-lebanon.html

RASHAYA, Lebanon (Reuters) - Israeli planes carried out several raids on suspected guerrilla targets in the Western Bekaa in south Lebanon early on Wednesday, a security source and the Israeli army said.

There were no reports of casualties.

The Israeli army confirmed the raid in a statement released in Jerusalem.

The Hizbollah guerrilla group, backed by Syria and Iran, is leading a war of attrition to try to end Israel's 22-year-old occupation of a 15-km (nine-mile) deep zone in south Lebanon.

Israel, which set up the zone ostensibly to protect its northern border, has said it will withdraw its troops by July.

-------- japan

Japan Nuke Accident Claims 2d Victim

April 26, 2000
By The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Japan-Nuclear-Accident.html

TOKYO (AP) -- A worker exposed to excessive radiation in Japan's worst nuclear accident died Thursday morning, officials said.

Masato Shinohara, 40, was the second plant worker to die since the accident on Sept. 30 at a uranium-processing facility in Tokaimura, 70 miles, northeast of Tokyo.

Hisashi Ouchi, 35, died of multiple organ failure on Dec. 21 after having been exposed to a massive amount of radiation.

A third worker, Yutaka Yokokawa, was also hospitalized for exposure to a lesser amount of radiation, but was discharged in December.

The accident was triggered when the three workers used too much uranium to make fuel and set off an uncontrolled atomic reaction.

A total of 439 people including nearby residents are believed to have been exposed to radiation in the accident.

----

Hiroshima survivors call for nuclear halt

USA Today
April 26, 2000 - World
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm

UNITED NATIONS - Hiroshima survivors gathered at a United Nations conference reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Tuesday calling for an end to nuclear weapons. Bomb survivors, or hibakusha, as they are known in Japan, erected a display inside the U. N. with photographs of bodies strewn among the rubble and orphans scavenging for food. The atomic bomb dropped over southwestern Japan on Aug. 6, 1945, killed 140,000 people and leveled Hiroshima. Another bomb killed 70,000 people in Nagasaki three days later.

----

Hiroshima Survivors Protest at UN

APRIL 26, 01:19 EDT
By IAN JAMES
Associated Press Writer
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=ASIA&STORYID=APIS7437OJO0

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - At 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, Setsuko Nakamura looked out a window and saw a blinding flash of light. Instantly, the 13-year-old girl had the sensation of floating as the wooden building collapsed.

She awoke in darkness, unable to move. She heard the faint cries of other girls, saying ``Help me!'' Many of those voices would never cry again. But someone loosened the timbers over Setsuko, and she was able to crawl toward the light and live on.

Fifty-five years later, she stood outside the United Nations on Tuesday with a simple message from Hiroshima: Never again.

While representatives from around the world met across the street at a U.N. conference reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Setsuko - who took the last name Thurlow after marrying a Canadian man - spoke to 50 people, urging them to look at the hundreds of Japanese names written on two yellow banners.

``They are 350 names of my schoolmates and teachers - only from my own school, just one school among many schools,'' she said, clenching a fist. ``They all perished, and most of them vaporized in the center of the city. The image of these girls and loved ones drive and compel me to speak out against the cruelty and inhumanity of nuclear weapons.''

The atomic bomb dropped by a U.S. plane over southwestern Japan killed 140,000 people and leveled Hiroshima. The bombing of Nagasaki three days later killed 70,000.

Thurlow recalled that when the blast struck, she was one mile from its center, working with 30 other girls from her school in a military office to aid the war effort. As she left the collapsed building for a nearby hillside, she saw the devastation.

``It was like twilight because of all the dust and dirt and the particles up in the air that were sucked up in the mushroom cloud,'' she said. ``It was like hell on earth. The streams and streams of injured people were just slowly shuffling from the central part of the city to the hillside.''

Their skin and flesh were hanging free, and some people were burned black, she said. The city burned all day and all night.

One of Thurlow's sisters, and the sister's 4-year-old son, were walking on a bridge at the time of the explosion. They were badly burned and only lived several days, Thurlow said.

``When they died, the soldiers just threw them in a ditch, poured gasoline, threw a lighted match,'' she said. ``But you know, I stood and watched it. I couldn't even shed tears. I was so emotionally overwhelmed.''

Her parents survived, and she went with them to live with an uncle outside the city. In the weeks and months after the blast, she searched her body for the purple spots that people said meant certain death. She bled internally and lost hair.

At 68, Thurlow said she is generally healthy, although she has a thyroid problem that worries her. She lives in Toronto with her husband, and they have two sons and two grandchildren.

A retired social worker, Thurlow is concerned about U.S. plans to build a national missile defense system that critics say would lead to a new arms race. It bothers her that even after so many years, some people don't seem to understand her message.

``Sometimes I feel angry, sometimes sad,'' she said. ``I think the majority of the people are sleepwalking in this nuclear age. They have to come out of the sleepwalking again.''

Bomb survivors, or hibakusha, as they are known in Japan, erected a display inside the United Nations with photographs of bodies strewn among the rubble and orphans scavenging for food.

Sunao Tsuboi, 75, said he was on his way to school in Hiroshima when the bomb fell. He was thrown 30 feet by the blast, and scars remain on his face and arms.

Speaking to the crowd outside the United Nations, he finished his speech with a shouted plea: ``No more Hiroshima! No more Nagasaki! No more hibakusha!''

----

Japan not to upgrade worst nuclear accident

JAPAN: April 26, 2000
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=6462

TOKYO - Japan has decided against upgrading its first fatal nuclear plant accident, sticking to a preliminary rating of "level four" rather than opting for the more serious level five.

A level five was assigned to the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in the United States.

"We decided on level four for the final rating," a Science and Technology Agency official said on Tuesday.

The government had previously said the accident last September at a uranium processing plant plant in Tokai, 140 km (90 miles) northeast of Tokyo, might be upgraded to level five.

It occurred when workers put nearly eight times the proper amount of condensed uranium into a mixing tank, triggering a nuclear chain reaction.

Level four on the International Atomic Energy Agency's zero-to-seven International Nuclear Event Scale indicates the possibility of a fatal radiation leak at the accident site but no significant risk outside the plant, the official said.

The Soviet Union's Chernobyl accident in 1986, rated a level seven, was the worst nuclear power accident on record.

Tokyo University Hospital said on Monday that a 40-year-old worker exposed to heavy doses of radiation in the Tokai incident had slipped into serious condition.

"The patient's prognosis is uncertain after he suffered multiple organ failure," the hospital said in a statement. Another Tokai worker died as a result of the accident late last year, while a third who suffered heavy radiation exposure recovered and was released from hospital in December.

A total of 439 workers and residents were exposed to radiation as a result of the accident.

-------- korea

North Korea under fire at nuclear conference

Miami Herald
Wednesday, April 26, 2000
http://www.herald.com/content/wed/news/brknews/docs/011883.htm

UNITED NATIONS -- (AP) -- North Korea has been singled out for criticism at a conference on nuclear nonproliferation and named as the reason the United States wants to build a missile defense system.

North Korea is among the 187 countries that have committed themselves to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which allows the International Atomic Energy Agency to make sure a countries' nuclear technology is being used for peaceful purposes.

But North Korea has limited IAEA access to its facilities, prompting the head of the IAEA, Mohamed El Baradei, to tell a conference reviewing the treaty that the agency couldn't be sure North Korea hadn't diverted technology to non-peaceful uses.

A senior U.S. official, meanwhile, raised concern Tuesday that North Korea could launch an intercontinental ballistic missile within the next five years -- before the United States could mount a missile defense system against it.

North Korea launched a three-stage Taepondong missile in 1998, with a range of over 940 miles, and is ``very close'' to an even more advanced missile, said John Holum, a senior U.S. adviser on arms control.

That 1998 test spurred the United States to begin considering a missile defense system to guard against attack, he said.

Russia, which ratified the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty with the United States barring such systems, has rebuffed U.S. efforts to amend the treaty to allow a limited defense, arguing it would make Russian forces ineffective.

The United States says the missile defense system isn't intended to counter Russian missiles, but to eliminate the smaller threat a nation such as North Korea could pose.

Pyongyang has agreed for the time being not to conduct a flight test of the more advanced Taepondong-2 system, Holum said.

``Nevertheless, the intelligence analysis is that North Korea is very close to an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capability through that system, much closer to an ICBM capability than we are to deployment of a national missile defense,'' Holum said.

The U.S. consideration of a missile defense system has dominated the opening days of the conference, but North Korea's non-compliance with the treaty has figured prominently in several speeches as well.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer welcomed recent improvements in relations between Pyongyang and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, an apparent reference to plans by leaders of North and South Korea to hold an unprecedented summit in June.

``We hope this will be reflected in reduced tensions in the region and improved North Korean cooperation with the IAEA,'' he said.

But Downer stressed that North Korea had solid commitments with the IAEA regarding information about its nuclear facilities that needed to be turned over.

--------

Korean Firms Hit by Chernobyl Computer Virus

April 26, 2000
By Reuters
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-korea-virus.html

SEOUL (Reuters) - The so-called Chernobyl computer virus struck South Korea on Wednesday, wiping out hard disks at hundreds of companies, the Ministry of Information and Communication said on Wednesday.

The ministry reported it received almost 2,000 complaints about the virus, which struck on the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Ukraine.

A ministry official said far worse damage was caused last year.

``In 1999, the outbreak of the virus affected up to 300,000 computers and larger companies took the brunt of the damage,'' said the official. ``This time, it's likely to be five percent of that.''

He said individuals and small companies accounted for more than 70 percent of the complaints reported on Wednesday.

He gave no estimate of the value of the damage caused by the virus erasing data on hard disk drives and corrupting communications software.

-------- kosovo

Kosovo Albanians demand inmates' release

USA Today April 26, 2000 - World
http://usatoday.com/news/world/nw1.htm

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia - Some 10,000 ethnic Albanians jammed the center of the city on Wednesday to demand the release of thousands of Kosovo Albanians held in Serbian jails. Military helicopters hovered above and peacekeepers patrolled a two-mile route from the National Theater to the eastern edge of the Kosovo capital. More than 2,000 ethnic Albanians arrested in Kosovo during the 18-month Serb crackdown on the Kosovo Liberation Army were transferred to Serbia proper before NATO's 78-day bombing campaign forced Yugoslav troops and police to withdraw and hand the province over to U.N. administrators and international peacekeepers. Many others are believed to be held secretly by the Serbs.


-------- npt

Getting Down to Disarmament

Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 20:26:30 -0400
To: updates@reachingcriticalwill.org
From: Felicity Hill - flick@igc.org Subject: # 3 NPT Update

The General Debate continued at the NPT Review Conference this morning, hearing from Syria, Maldives, Luxembourg, Poland, Korea, Myanmar, Venezuela and Kuwait, Norway, Mongolia, Turkey, Macedonia, Indonesia, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Argentina. Two decisions were taken, one to allow Cuba to distribute documents and second to add another Vice Chair to the Credentials Committee. Indonesia's statement was particularly worth hearing, referring to the modernisation of weapons. (For copies of the speeches: www.basicint.org for detailed analysis: www.acronym.org.uk)

The first meeting of Main Committee I on nuclear disarmament opened today with statements by Japan, Mexico on behalf of the New Agenda Coalition, New Zealand, Portugal on behalf of the European Union, France and the Czech Republic. In terms of substance, the most promising and forward looking of statements was that of Mexico on behalf of the NAC. Ambassador Reyes of Colombia closed the meeting with almost an hour to spare because delegations were not ready to begin discussion. The Committee will meet again on Thursday afternoon, 3-6 and we hope the statement giving ends and the discussion begins.

Japan referred to "several avenues" that must be taken to arrive at the goal of nuclear disarmament, including "efforts at the unilateral, bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral levels." Noting that the first three of these involve only the nuclear weapon states, Japan stated that "no one in the disarmament community denies that they have done immensely important work" but that nuclear disarmament is "a more public affair, which involves and affects all the members of the NPT community." Japan referred to the question of pace as "particularly contentious" and stated that because concrete steps require the agreement of all, "the only way we can proceed is step by step." In this context, Japan referred to the working paper it had submitted together with the Australian delegation, relying extensively on the 1995 Principles and Objectives. Expressing a desire to see a reference to the South Asian nuclear tests in the final outcome, Japan concluded by saying that implementation of the 1995 measures can heal any "injury the NPT may have suffered."

The Japanese/Australian paper (NPT/.CONF.2000.WP.1) contains 8 paragraphs that call for:

1. the early entry into force of the CTBT; 2. immediate commencement of negotiations on a fissile material treaty; 3. immediate entry into force of START II and early commencement of START III; 4. further efforts by the nuclear-weapon states to reduce arsenals, and the commencement of negotiations involving the nuclear-weapon States for the reduction of nuclear weapons at an appropriate stage; 5. multilateral discussions in the CD on possilbe future steps on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation; 6. early completion of negotiations on a NWFZ in Central Asia; 7. universalisation of IAEA safeguards and establishment of Integrated Safeguards for strengthening the effectiveness of safeguards system; 8. placement of fissile materials no longer required for defence purposes under safeguards.

While many of these points are necessary steps in the path towards disarmament, this bland offering contains vague language such as "further efforts" (who defines efforts?) and "possible future steps" (why can't we identify some of these steps here and now in a more representative forum to help the frozen 66 member CD thaw a little?). The paper does not maximise the possibilities offered by this conference and nor does it address the lack of success experienced by this very programme over the past five year period.

Mexico's statement on behalf of the NAC introduced its working paper on nuclear disarmament "as the identification of areas in which and the means through which further progress should be sought in the future regarding the obligations under Articles I, II and VI" of the NPT. Stating that the NPT regime is at a crisis, Mexico allowed that following the hopes for nuclear disarmament in 1995 and the 1996 ICJ Advisory Opinion, events have not been encouraging, noting lack of progress on the CTBT and FMCT. Specifically, "We have not witnessed the necessary political will on the part of some States parties to fulfil their obligations" under the NPT and "indefinite extension of the Treaty does not legitimize the indefinite possession of nuclear weapons."

Mexico then reiterated points made in the Working Document for Nuclear Disarmament presented on April 24. Although this forward looking action plan does not go as far as many in the NGO community may when advocating abolition, the ideas contained in the New Agenda Coalitions Working Document are something that we can all agree are the obvious first steps to the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons. NGOs think of it as a platform of consensus rather than a compromise. NGOs are calling on all states to identify what specific points they could possibly object to in the doable, practical, reasonable and realistic platform put forward by the New Agenda Coalition.

New Zealand began with an expression of support for a "substantive outcome" noting that the "fundamental bargain of non-proliferation and disarmament" central to the NPT may be "discriminatory" but explicit in it "was the expectation that this discrimination would end with the elimination of nuclear weapons." In this context, New Zealand sees the RevCon as crucial and the achievements as "instrumental in determining that international confidence in the NPT can be sustained." New Zealand stressed accountability of states and the right and responsibility of non-nuclear weapon states to pursue nuclear disarmament. Moreover, the indefinite extension in 1995 "did not in any way sanction the indefinite possession of nuclear weaponsŠ. Enhanced accountability, yes; permanence in possession, no."

New Zealand further noted that "progress on nuclear disarmament is not contingent on progress with general and complete disarmament" and that "no one group of states can determine independently the pace with which the obligations of a treaty are implemented." New Zealand does not accept "that it is business as usual on nuclear disarmament" over the last five years, citing nuclear strategies that re-rationalise use and possession and protect nuclear monopolies. In this context, "nuclear weapons must not become an inevitable fact of life. The longer we retain them, the greater the temptation of others to acquire them." New Zealand also expressed concern about the South Asian tests and "another non-State party that operates unsafeguarded nuclear facilities." Listing a series of steps along the lines of the NAC working document, New Zealand called for "a determined and accelerated process of negotiations" stating that "we are not questioning anyone's commitment to Article VI" but seeking "a new undertaking, consistent with, but building upon, that given in the 1995 Principles and Objectives."

Portugal spoke on behalf of the European Union, expression strong commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, to the "ultimate goal" of complete elimination of nuclear weapons and to general and complete disarmament. Calling the 1995 RevCon a "milestone" in non-proliferation and disarmament, Portugal turned to an assessment of the current situation, expressing "deep concern" over the South Asian nuclear tests and calling for signature and ratification by all States of the CTBT (welcoming Russia's recent announcement of ratification) and suggesting that the RevCon consider "what more can be done by States Parties to accelerate ratifications, prevent a resumption of nuclear testing, and facilitate the Treaty's entry into force at the earliest possible time."

Portugal further expressed "deep regret" over lack of progress on concrete FMCT negotiations and "real concern" over "annual haggling" at the CD on the adoption of a work programme, where the "EU countries stand ready and eager to commence negotiations" on the basis of the Shannon mandate. In this context Portugal stated that NPT States Parties should reaffirm their commitment to the goal of negotiating a fissile material ban. Regarding the third part of the P&O Programme of Action dealing with "systematic and progressive efforts" towards nuclear disarmament Portugal welcomed progress on START and by the UK and France, progress on transparency, management and disposition of fissile materials, and placing excess material under safeguards, but went on to express deep EU regret over "negative developments" including lack of progress on entry into force of agreements that would fulfil Article VI obligations. The EU also "underlines the importance of addressing non-strategic nuclear weapons" and urges the RevCon to encourage the NWS, in particular the US and Russia, "to explore ways to bring these weapons within future nuclear reduction and disarmament arrangements." Support for the ABM Treaty was unequivocal: "The EU wishes that Treaty preserved." On nuclear disarmament, there was acknowledgement that "for the time being the primary responsibility rests with the five nuclear-weapons States" (emphasis added) but "it is also an obligation of all States Parties to further the implementation of Article VI" and therefore the EU supports an Ad Hoc Working Group in the CD on nuclear disarmament.

France stated that it has "committed itself unequivocally to nuclear disarmament" (using the language of the New Agenda Coalition), and reiterated support for the CTBT and fissile material treaty asking, "Should the 2000 NPT Review Conference not provide decisive momentum to this (FMCT) negotiation?" France stated the obvious in saying that the review conference should "arrive at a common assessment of the key elements of this review, or at least bring our views closer together." Choosing to focus strictly on the action plan outlined in 1995, NGOs fear that France will seek to limit the actions open to the 2000 Review Conference until the CTBT enters into force and the FMCT negotiation begins. While the 1995 decisions, principles and actions identified must be preserved, NGOs would not want that moment to be frozen in time, especially in this fast changing world.

Merav Datan Program Director, IPPNW

Felicity Hill, Director Women's International League for Peace and Freedom United Nations Office 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USA

Ph: 1 212 682 1265 Fax: 1 212 286 8211 email: flick@igc.apc.org web: www.wilpf.int.ch www.reachingcriticalwill.org

----

U.S., Russia Strike Conciliatory Poses on Arms Control

Wednesday April 26 8:19 PM ET
By Elaine Monaghan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Russia on Wednesday struck conciliatory poses on President Clinton's plans for a missile defense system that requires changing a Soviet-era pact seen as the cornerstone of arms control.

But Washington said an overture by visiting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was insufficient, and Ivanov again opposed changing the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty.

Powerful Senator Jesse Helms threw another monkey wrench in the administration's works by saying any treaty changes agreed with Russia would be ``dead on arrival'' in Congress while Clinton was in office.

The conservative North Carolina Republican who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee declared it should be left to Clinton's successor to decide whether to build a National Missile Defense (NMD) at a cost of tens of billions of dollars.

``This administration's time for grand treaties is clearly at an end,'' he told the Senate, which has the authority to approve all major foreign treaties or changes to them.

Underlining NMD's complexities, U.S. officials said Clinton may not rule on whether to deploy the system until November after previously indicating he would decide by late summer.

They stressed however that this was not a delay on his part, merely a reflection of the time needed for the Pentagon to test the system and review the results.

A third, critical test has been pushed from April-May to June, when NMD planners will try to hit a mock warhead with a missile in a procedure compared to hitting a bullet with a bullet.

In a reminder of foreign opposition to the notion of the U.S. defense system, which one arms control group has said replaces ``Mutually Assured Destruction'' with ``You're Destroyed and We're Not,'' France renewed its assault on the project.

The gist of Ivanov's proposal was that Russia was happy to work with the United States to reduce the threat of missiles of a shorter range than the ones which would be shot down in NMD.

This approach did not address U.S. concerns motivating the project -- a new threat from ``rogue states'' far from U.S. soil such as communist North Korea or Iran.

State Department spokesman James Rubin told a news briefing that Ivanov's proposal was ``necessary but insufficient''.

But he added: ``We still believe that it is possible that as we and the Russians cooperate and work together in the coming days, that they will see the wisdom of proceeding down the course that we've set forth.''

Ivanov Visit Brings Intense Talks On Arms Control

Ivanov was in Washington after attending a review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the United Nations in New York where he reiterated Moscow's opposition to changing the ABM.

The former Cold War rivals used his visit, which is meant to prepare the ground for a U.S.-Russia summit in Moscow on June 4-5, to hold the most intense, high-level talks on arms control since President-elect Vladimir Putin was elected on March 26.

A day after meeting Clinton and half way through two days of talks with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Ivanov told a news conference on Wednesday that it would be premature to predict the outcome but the issue would be a centerpiece of the June summit.

He added: ``But I would like to tell you that we are holding sincere, constructive dialogue on the whole range of issues.''

If NMD won the day, Ivanov said, it would ``undermine the whole architecture'' of arms control built over 30 years.

He noted that talks on deeper arms cuts envisaged in the START III arms reduction pact would now be unfrozen by the Russian parliament's April 14 vote for its predecessor, START II -- a move which the United States welcomed but which it sees as only part of the strategic defense equation.

The U.S. official said talks in Washington between Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov this week had shown the Russians were serious about intensifying arms control talks. But Ivanov's suggestion did not open the door to an NMD as the United States saw it.

``It's interesting in that it does show some movement by the Russians but given some of the cranky letters we've been getting from the Senate, we would obviously have a hard time with a system that wasn't national in coverage,'' he added.

----

U.S. Arms Policy Is Criticized at U.N.
Annan, Others Score Nuclear Powers

By Colum Lynch Special to
The Washington Post
Tuesday, April 25, 2000; Page A18
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-04/25/138l-042500-idx.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 24-After years of championing international attempts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons, the United States found itself on the defensive today as a broad alliance of arms control advocates, senior U.N. officials and diplomats from non-nuclear countries charged that Washington is blocking progress toward disarmament.

Delegates at a U.N. conference reviewing compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty said the United States and the four other declared nuclear powers--Russia, Britain, France and China--have not lived up to their obligation to reduce and eventually eliminate their nuclear arsenals.

Under the 30-year-old treaty, 182 countries that did not possess atomic weapons agreed to abandon any ambition to build them. In return, the five acknowledged nuclear powers agreed not to share nuclear weapons technology with non-nuclear states and promised to take steps toward disarmament.

Only four countries--India, Pakistan, Israel and Cuba--have not signed the treaty.

Nuclear opponents accused Washington of backsliding on its obligations by failing to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the Senate defeated last year; refurbishing old nuclear weapons; keeping a "war reserve" of plutonium triggers from dismantled warheads; and recommitting itself to maintain a nuclear balance of terror.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan also warned that a U.S. effort to build a national missile defense system would jeopardize the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia and "could well lead to a new arms race."

"Some 30,000 nuclear weapons remain in the arsenals of the nuclear powers, with thousands still on hair-trigger alert," Annan said in an opening address to the conference, which is held every five years. "We have witnessed the reaffirmation of the nuclear weapons doctrines of all the nuclear-weapons states."

Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright defended the U.S. record, saying America has dismantled about 60 percent of its Cold War nuclear arsenal and will seek further reductions in so-called START III talks with Russia.

"There is concern that the United States is turning its back on arms control," Albright acknowledged. But she said the Clinton administration will continue to push for Senate ratification of the test ban treaty, and she presented the delegates with a booklet summarizing U.S. actions in support of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"As we enter this new millennium, we should all commit ourselves anew to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons," President Clinton says in the booklet's introduction.

"The United States remains committed to this goal and will work tirelessly towards its ultimate achievement."

Albright also told delegates that Washington's effort to amend the ABM Treaty was not "intended to degrade Russia's deterrence." Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that if Washington goes ahead with a missile defense program, Moscow may sever its disarmament agreements with the United States.

"The [ABM] treaty has been amended before, and there is no good reason it cannot be amended again to reflect new threats from third countries outside the strategic deterrence regime," Albright said. "We are talking about a system capable of defending against a few tens of incoming missiles."

The U.N. conference is the first since the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was extended permanently in 1995. Delegates are expected to draft a document assessing progress over the past five years and charting an agenda for the next five.

The critical assessment of U.S. behavior deflected attention from countries typically cast as threats to global non-proliferation policy, including two newly declared nuclear powers, India and Pakistan; an undeclared nuclear power, Israel; and suspected nuclear aspirants such as North Korea, Iraq and Iran.

Russia, whose impoverished and loosely guarded nuclear facilities have been a source of concern, received a warm reception in light of recent votes by its parliament to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and START II.

A group of non-nuclear countries, calling themselves the "New Agenda" coalition, appealed to Washington and other nuclear powers to renew their commitment to disarm, to adopt a "no first use" posture in their nuclear doctrine, and to take all warheads off alert.

"Our experience clearly demonstrates that nuclear weapons are not the source of security that those who possess or aspire to possess them seem to believe," said Abdul S. Minty, a South African representative. "As long as these weapons exist in the arsenal of some, others will aspire to possess them."

----

UN: U.S. Officials Stress Missile Threat Is Real

By Robert McMahon,
April 26 2000
Radio Free Europe
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2000/04/F.RU.000426124436.html

A leading U.S. arms control official says developments since 1998 have convinced the Washington defense establishment of the need for a short-range missile defense shield. Meanwhile, one often-named "rogue" nation affirmed its status as a non-nuclear state. UN correspondent Robert McMahon reports.

United Nations, 26 April 2000 (RFE/RL) -- A senior U.S. presidential adviser on arms control and security issues has singled out North Korean missile tests as the main reason the United States is considering a missile defense system.

The threat of "rogue" nations has repeatedly been cited by U.S. officials as the impetus for considering a missile shield which would require modifications in the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.

The senior advisor to the U.S. president on arms control and international security, John Holum, told reporters Tuesday that U.S. defense officials have North Korea in mind as they plan the missile system. U.S. President Bill Clinton is expected to make a dec