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NUCLEAR
Alice Stewart, Who Linked X-Rays to Diseases, Dies at 95
Aerospace Sector Contends with Challenges of War on Terrorism
India Removes Some Kashmir Mines
Nuclear Cargo Ship Leaves Japan, Security Tight
Dirty Bombs: Assessing the Threat
Musicians Join Yucca Mountain Protest
The Declaration of Independence
For the Record
MILITARY
U.S. eyes missile transfer to Taipei
U.S. Mulls Missile Transfer to Taiwan
Anti-coca programs shelved to placate farmers
U.S. Set to Resume Its Role in Halting Latin Drug Planes
Saddam Hussein's Stepson Arrested
U.N., Iraq Make Weapons Progress
Arafat's chiefs ignore dismissal
UN, US to help Egypt anti-landmine campaign
U.S. backs off threats to end mission
POLICE / PRISONERS
Fighter jets to give air cover to Fourth
Life, Liberty, Ashcroft
Greek Raid Uncovers Terrorism Ties
ACTIVISTS
Request for a message to Kobe
Two Killed at Carribean Summit Protest
Chinese dissident cites protest failings
Campaigners fight to stop Japan nuclear cargo
-------- NUCLEAR
-------- accidents and safety
Alice Stewart, Who Linked X-Rays to Diseases, Dies at 95
New York Times
July 4, 2002
By CARMEL McCOUBREY
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/04/obituaries/04STEW.html
Dr. Alice M. Stewart, an epidemiologist who first demonstrated the link between X-rays of pregnant women and disease in their children, a finding that changed medical practice, died on June 23 in Oxford, England. A resident of the countryside outside Oxford, she was 95.
Dr. Stewart, who became one of the most authoritative critics of the safety of the American nuclear weapons program and a leading proponent of the idea that no level of exposure to radiation is safe, came to prominence in 1956 for her report on prenatal X-rays.
It was an increasingly common practice in the 1950's to X-ray the abdomens of pregnant women to determine the position of their babies, said Dr. Gayle Greene of Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., who wrote "The Woman Who Knew Too Much: Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation."
Dr. Stewart, then a member of the social medicine department at Oxford, was surprised to discover when she conducted a survey that children of mothers who had had this X-ray were almost twice as likely to have cancer as other children.
Her finding that there was danger in receiving even such a low dose of radiation was met with outrage by doctors and the nuclear industry, and Dr. Stewart had difficulties obtaining financing for other studies. But by the mid-1970's, other scientists had duplicated her findings on prenatal X-rays, and the practice ended.
In a 1995 interview with The Times Higher Education Supplement, a weekly publication in Britain, she described her problems with financing of studies. "If I had been a man I would never have stood it; I would have gone," she said. "The prospects were too bad, the pay too low. But being a woman I didn't have all that number of choices."
Dr. Stewart was also at the center of a 14-year battle with the Department of Energy, which cut off her access to its records on the health of nuclear-weapons workers after she and her colleagues found that low doses of radiation had increased the number of cancers among workers at the Hanford nuclear weapons plant in Washington State.
Congressional pressure, fueled by Dr. Stewart's appearances before a House subcommittee, forced the department to open the records to independent researchers in 1990 and to surrender its monopoly on government financing of radiation research.
More recently, Dr. Stewart devoted her time to arguing that data on Hiroshima survivors, the main source for standards on the safe levels of radiation exposure, was deeply flawed and underestimated radiation's harmful effects.
She was born Alice Mary Naish in Sheffield, England. Her mother, Lucy Wellburn Naish, was one of the first British women to become a doctor, and four of the Naish children became doctors as well.
After earning a medical degree at Cambridge, Dr. Stewart joined Oxford in 1941 and studied workers who filled shells with TNT at munition plants. Her conclusions that exposure to TNT impaired the body's ability to form blood led Britain to change its manufacturing techniques.
Dr. Stewart left Oxford in 1974, and became a research fellow at the University of Birmingham in England, where she worked until about two years ago.
Her marriage to Ludovick Stewart ended in divorce. She is survived by her daughter, Anne Marshall of London, who is a doctor, and four grandchildren.
-------- business
Aerospace Sector Contends with Challenges of War on Terrorism
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer, Cape Canaveral Bureau,
Space.com
04 July 2002
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/july4_2002_020704.html
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Ten months ago terrorists struck the United States and forever changed the nation's role on Earth.
Responding to the challenge, the U.S. aerospace sector -- including civilian, military and industry -- has played a crucial part in the war against terrorism.
From the military's Global Positioning System beaming precise navigation information for weapon's targeting, to commercial satellite imaging firms providing high-resolution pictures that supplement more sophisticated spy satellites, every segment has made a contribution.
Meanwhile, the nation's civilian program continues to demonstrate how peaceful international cooperation on massive projects, like the International Space Station, or even smaller ones like the gravity-measuring GRACE spacecraft, help move humanity forward.
However, on the down side, NASA's highly visible launches and mission operations makes the agency a target for future terrorism. Concern about attacks have forced the civilian agency to adopt military-like security measures that restricts the flow of information to the public.
Once advertised months in advance, shuttle launch dates and times are being withheld from the public until absolutely necessary, while armed military fighter jets patrol the skies over Cape Canaveral before every mission begins.
So far, science operations aboard the space station and other NASA programs don't seem immediately threatened, but scientists in general are being asked to help battle terrorism.
Speaking in June at the Brookings Institution's Center for Public Policy Education, National Science Foundation director Rita Colwell said this "new era marked by the watershed events of 9/11 presents new directions for science and technology."
Increased research in all areas, space and otherwise, is needed.
"Every discussion about airline safety, contamination by disease, failure of communication links, poisoning of food and drinking water, assessment of damaged infrastructure and countless other concerns depends on our scientific and technical knowledge," she said.
In the meantime, 9/11's economic impact on aerospace has taken its toll. Industry giants such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin felt the effect of the attacks, with Boeing reporting a $700 million hit to its bottom line as a direct result.
When you consider the entire aerospace industry -- which includes aviation and space -- the overall economic loss in 2001 is estimated at $2 billion, John Douglass, president of the Aerospace Industries Association, reported to Congress in March.
An additional loss of $6 billion in 2002 and $7 billion in 2003 is forecast, Douglass said, noting those numbers do not include the financial loss to the airlines.
Future changes in the aerospace industry will depend on how much additional spending the government approves for things like a missile defense system, the potential deployment of weapons in space and any new space transportation schemes intended to assure the U.S. can launch the satellites needed to fight the war on terror at home and abroad.
What is definite is that space will continue to be critical to the nation's security.
"Whatever this nation does, wherever they do it, they're not going to leave home without us," Air Force Gen. Ed Eberhart, commander of U.S. Space Command. "The capabilities we provide in terms of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and global communication are very important."
-------- india / pakistan
India Removes Some Kashmir Mines
July 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Kashmir-Land-Mines.html
JAMMU, India (AP) -- India's army has started removing mines from parts of its border with Pakistan in a further sign that tensions over the disputed state of Kashmir are easing between the nuclear-armed neighbors, army officials said Thursday.
Mines were strewn across 173,000 acres of the frontier that divides Kashmir between the South Asian rivals as part of a troop buildup in December, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Defense Ministry issued a statement, however, that said the army was only removing mines selectively in some low-lying areas along rivers prone to flooding during the monsoon season.
``This is being done to obviate mines drifting due to flood water, posing a serious hazard to our civilians residing in the adjoining areas,'' the statement said. ``It is being ensured that such de-mining does not, in any way, compromise on the overall defense preparedness.''
The buildup followed an attack on India's Parliament that India blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic rebels and Pakistan's spy agency. Pakistan rejected the charge.
The army began removing mines this week from the Ranbir Singh Pura and Hiranagar sectors along the international border, about 20 miles west of Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, the officials said.
Priority in removing the mines was being given to populated areas and farms as villagers in border towns began returning to their homes. Some 150,000 people had fled those towns after tensions escalated and the two armies exchanged heavy fire across the border.
Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman, Aziz Ahmad Khan, told The Associated Press that the Indian move toward mine removal ``needs verification.''
``But as far as Pakistan's policy is concerned, any steps taken in line with our policy of de-escalation in tensions will be welcomed,'' Khan said, adding that Pakistan wants ``a solution of all disputes, including the core issue of Kashmir, with India through talks and negotiations.''
Although the threat of war has eased, a million troops remain deployed at the border and violence in Kashmir continues on an almost daily basis.
India's new foreign minister, Yashwant Sinha, said Wednesday that there had recently been a rise in cross-border incursions by Islamic militants into Indian-controlled Kashmir. He said he doubted whether Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf intended to block the incursions.
The Indian army claimed to have killed five intruders in two incidents since Saturday after the infiltrators crossed the Line of Control, which divides Kashmir. Pakistan denied the first intrusion on Saturday, but didn't comment on the Indian army's claim on Monday.
``The incidents in the past few days suggest we could be going back to the situation that was there before Pakistan's president made his statement,'' Sinha told reporters.
Musharraf's promise to U.S. officials to stop the intruders eased the threat of a fourth war. The Pakistani leader has not made the promise in public, and has recently denied in media interviews that he gave it.
``We started doubting his intention the day he tried to backtrack from his assurance,'' Sinha said. ``We need to be very, very careful in our dealings with General Musharraf.''
India has said that it wants Pakistan to completely halt the militants' infiltration as a key condition to ending the military standoff with its neighbor.
More than a dozen militant groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
India accuses Pakistan of training and arming Islamic guerrillas, a charge Islamabad denies.
-------- japan
Nuclear Cargo Ship Leaves Japan, Security Tight
July 4, 2002
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-energy-japan-ship.html
TAKAHAMA, Japan (Reuters) - A ship carrying nuclear material bound for Britain slipped out of a Japanese port under tight security on Thursday, defying protests from anti-nuclear activists who said the cargo could be at risk of theft or attack.
The ship, carrying a potentially weapons-usable mix of plutonium and uranium oxides (MOX), sailed just days after the State Department warned of the potential for extremist attacks on Thursday -- U.S. Independence Day. An air of tension surrounded the pier near the nuclear power plant at Takahama, 190 miles west of Tokyo, as the Pacific Pintail headed off on its secret course back to Britain.
Officials on the pier waved as the vessel cast off and headed out to sea, accompanied by several small coast guard vessels.
Coast guard inflatables crowded Uchiura Bay, a serene and almost idyllic body of water surrounded by green mountains, and helicopters clattered overhead.
Some 100 protesters gathered in front of the gate to the power plant, holding signs saying ``Stop MOX'' and ``Plutonium equals atom bombs.''
``Those who have done wrong must right that wrong,'' said local protester Miwako Ogiso.
``I think it's normal for townspeople to want that.
``On the other hand, sending it (MOX) back does not solve problems. When it is sent back the people there will have to live under the fear of the dangers of plutonium. It should not have been made in the first place.''
TIGHT SECURITY
Earlier, as police accompanied by dogs stood guard, two massive, 100-toncasks were loaded onto the British-flagged ship under the watchful eyes of some 20 security guards on the deck of the vessel, which is equipped with a machine gun.
The MOX fuel is being returned to state-owned British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) after Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co Inc discovered that data for a 1999 shipment from Britain had been deliberately falsified.
Kansai Electric had intended to use the fuel in commercial reactors.
For security reasons, the Pacific Pintail will be joined by the Pacific Teal for its long sea journey.
The route is being kept under wraps.
Greenpeace deployed two inflatables and flew 12 yellow kites on a single string with ``Stop Plutonium'' written on them as the Pacific Pintail entered the bay early in the morning.
``Security concerns are a major issue to countries along the tens of thousands of kilometers between Japan and the United Kingdom,'' Greenpeace said in a statement. ``The ships are slow, lightly armed, and vulnerable to armed attack.
``The plutonium contained in this one cargo is sufficient for 50 nuclear weapons if stolen.''
Greenpeace, which wants to see the material stored on land rather than shipped across the world, on Tuesday sought a British High Court injunction to stop it leaving.
But BNFL said it would ``vigorously contest'' the move.
A hearing on the matter was set for 10:30 a.m. British time on Thursday, Greenpeace said.
SAFETY CONCERNS
Although the planned route has been kept secret, leaders of countries that may find the ships passing nearby have expressed concerns about safety.
The ships will probably be escorted out of Japanese waters by coast guard vessels, but the coast guard declined to comment.
BNFL says all safety needs have been met by the double-hulled ships and that the fuel itself is to be contained in a drop-tested cask with steel walls several inches thick.
In London on Monday, the shipment obtained a key clearance from the British Environment Agency, which ruled that BNFL could classify the MOX as fuel rather than waste and thereby avoid the need to obtain a special license for it.
Environmental campaigners have argued that the MOX is unlikely to be used as a fuel, given existing stockpiles of similar material already in Britain, but BNFL says the material is fuel and has a commercial value.
-------- terrorism
Dirty Bombs: Assessing the Threat
By Mohamed El Baradei
Tuesday, July 2, 2002
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A11202-2002Jul1?language=printer
A new term has entered our lexicon of fear: the so-called "dirty bomb." But giving the new threat a name has only heightened panic; the crucial step is to improve public understanding of what a dirty bomb is and of how the threat is being addressed internationally.
A dirty bomb would be made of ordinary explosives -- such as dynamite -- packaged with radioactive material, which would be dispersed when the bomb went off. As with any explosion, people in the immediate vicinity could be killed or injured by the blast itself. The radioactive material that was dispersed, depending on the amount and intensity, could cause radiation sickness for a limited number of people nearby if, for example, they inhaled large amounts of radioactive dust. But the most severe tangible effects would likely be the economic costs and social disruption associated with the evacuation and subsequent cleanup of contaminated property.
Packaging explosives with other toxic substances could cause equally severe public health effects and social disruption, with less effort and risk for the terrorist. Radioactive material is hard to handle: The bomber would have to choose between being directly exposed to a concentrated clump of material -- which could be lethal -- or using large amounts of lead shielding, which would hamper bomb assembly and transport. But a dirty bomb could be a terrorist's weapon of choice simply to play on public fears of all things nuclear and radioactive. Panic and chaos are a terrorist's primary objectives.
Around the world, radioactive materials have been widely used for decades to benefit humankind -- to diagnose and treat illnesses, to monitor oil wells and water aquifers and to irradiate food to eliminate microbes. But a lack of control over the thousands of radioactive sources worldwide makes their acquisition and use by terrorists a real possibility. In Kabul, Afghanistan, in late March, my organization -- the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- secured a powerful cobalt source abandoned in a former hospital. In Uganda a week later, we helped to secure a source that appeared to have been stolen for illicit resale. And as I write, a team of IAEA and local experts is searching through remote areas of the Republic of Georgia to locate and recover a number of powerful strontium sources that have been outside official control for years. Even in the United States and Europe, where regulatory controls are relatively stringent, thousands of radioactive sources have been lost or stolen, their whereabouts unknown.
Providing security controls for radioactive material is not a new concept. Common-sense measures have been required for many years -- such as strict inventories, locked storage facilities and security guards, depending on the type or amount of material. But the primary focus in the past has been on safety hazards and the prevention of inadvertent (rather than deliberate) exposure.
The terrorist attacks of last September catapulted security to the forefront. The sophistication of the attacks, the evident will to create large-scale panic and destruction, and the willingness of the terrorists themselves to risk their lives to achieve their ends made the dirty bomb threat far more realistic.
The degree and nature of the threat vary significantly from one country to another. National governments are redoubling their efforts to prevent and to counter nuclear terrorism, both at home and abroad. The IAEA is serving as a catalyst for these efforts. We have provided equipment and training to hundreds of border guards and other law enforcement officials, to help them detect illicit trafficking of radioactive material across borders. We have held dozens of workshops to help governments and operators in assessing the threats to their nuclear facilities, raising their standards of security, maintaining proper control of nuclear and radioactive material and being prepared to respond to any related emergencies that arise. And we recently forged a trilateral partnership among the United States, the Russian Federation and the IAEA to locate, secure and dispose of powerful radioactive sources that were lost or abandoned during the breakup of the former Soviet Union.
The good news, in brief, is that governments and the IAEA are working overtime on this problem, and we have every intention of continuing until the threat has been vastly reduced. But this will not happen overnight; bringing the global inventory of radioactive material under proper controls will require a sustained and concerted effort.
The writer is director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
-------- u.s. nuc facilities
-------- nevada
Musicians Join Yucca Mountain Protest
July 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-People-Yucca-Protest.html
CHICAGO (AP) -- The stars came out to protest a plan to store the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada. Not many others did, though.
Six protesters wearing identical T-shirts and carrying signs denouncing the proposed Yucca Mountain storage facility were joined Wednesday by members of the Indigo Girls, the B-52s and Midnight Oil.
The bands, which were in town for concerts Wednesday and Thursday, came out to urge the U.S. Senate to strike down a plan to store all the nation's nuclear waste in south-central Nevada. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a similar measure in May.
Although the proposed storage site lies almost 2,000 miles away from Illinois, the plan will affect the state.
The concentration of reactors on the East Coast, the large number of active reactors in Illinois, and the state's role as a transportation hub means that about 80 percent of the 72,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste to be stored in Yucca Mountain will come through the state.
Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls said she speaks out on these issues in the hope that her star power will reach people who otherwise would not think about the dangers of nuclear waste transportation and storage.
``It's been astonishing to me that such horrible public policy could be passed without many people knowing about it,'' Saliers said.
Peter Garrett, singer for the Australian group Midnight Oil, said citizens should be able to vote on whether they want a nuclear storage facility in their back yard.
-------- us politics
The Declaration of Independence
Washington Times
July 4, 2002
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020704-415107.htm
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasions from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; For protecting them by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states;
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences;
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies;
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every state of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance, to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
North Carolina:, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton
----
For the Record
Thursday, July 4, 2002
Thomas's Roll Call Report Syndicate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A18674-2002Jul3?language=printer
Here's how some major bills fared recently in Congress and how local congressional members voted, as provided by. NV means Not Voting.
INTELLIGENCE SHARING For: 422 / Against: 2
The House passed a bill (HR 4598) mandating technological and bureaucratic changes that will enable federal intelligence agencies to routinely share large volumes of information on terrorists with state and local law enforcement. The required technology, which is now used in sharing U.S. intelligence with NATO allies and Interpol, automatically shields sources and collection methods in the transfer of intelligence documents.
...
DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS For: 413 / Against: 18
The House passed a bill (HR 5010) appropriating $355 billion for military operations in fiscal 2003, up 12 percent from the comparable 2002 bill.
The bill terminates the Army's 40-ton Crusader artillery system but requires a replacement system by 2008. It provides $7.4 billion for advancing the National Missile Defense, slightly less than President Bush requested; includes a $10 billion contingency fund for combating terror; and funds a 4.1 percent military pay raise.
...
2003 DEFENSE BUDGET For: 97 / Against: 2
The Senate passed a bill (S 2514) authorizing $393.4 billion in fiscal 2003 defense spending, up $50 billion, or 14 percent, from the comparable 2002 bill.
The measure authorizes up to $7.6 billion for the National Missile Defense with conditions opposed by the administration. It funds a 4.1 percent military pay raise; phases out the Army's Crusader artillery system; bans research and development of nuclear-armed missile interceptors; and permits privately financed abortions at military hospitals abroad. It phases in a plan to allow 450,000 military retirees with service-connected disabilities to receive both a disability and a military pension.
The bill was sent to a House-Senate conference.
-------- MILITARY
-------- arms sales
U.S. eyes missile transfer to Taipei
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 4, 2002
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020704-682683.htm
The Bush administration is reviewing whether to send advanced air-to-air missiles that were purchased by Taiwan but not delivered because of fears of upsetting the military balance in the region, U.S. officials said yesterday.
The review follows intelligence reports indicating that China has deployed similar Russian-made missiles and recently test-fired the weapons.
Defense and State Department officials said senior administration policy-makers are reviewing the September 2000 decision to withhold AIM-120 missiles from delivery to Taiwan unless Beijing deployed a similar weapon.
One U.S. official said the administration is expected to approve sending the missiles to Taiwan but has not decided how quickly the transfer would take place.
In Taiwan, a senior military officer said his country will seek to have the AIM-120s delivered.
"We're ready for delivery of the AIM-120 missile," Maj. Gen. Peng Chin-ming, director of the Taiwanese air force's operations bureau, told reporters in Taipei on Tuesday. "The missile will be carried by the F-16 jet fighter."
A U.S. defense official said one factor is that the U.S. manufacturer's AIM-120 production schedule calls for building the first batch of Taiwan-bought missiles later this year. The soonest the 120 missiles purchased by Taiwan can be built is spring 2003, the official said.
The United States offered to sell Taipei up to 200 of the missiles and the supporting equipment for $150 million. Taiwanese pilots have been training on the use of AIM-120 missiles at a base in the United States.
One option is to speed the delivery by transferring existing missiles from the U.S. Air Force stockpiles and replacing those missiles next year, the defense official said.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis said the AIM-120 missiles "are still in production."
"Our policy requires that these missiles not be delivered to Taiwan unless there is evidence China has a similar missile as part of its inventory," Cmdr. Davis said in an interview. "We have not made a decision" on whether the missiles will be sent, he said.
He declined to comment on reports of China's first test-firing last week of the Russian-made AA-12 Adder medium-range air-to-air missile, citing a policy of not discussing intelligence. The test was first reported earlier this week in The Washington Times.
Asked about the possibility of sending the missiles to Taiwan, Cmdr. Davis said the State Department is in charge of the policy that restricted delivery of the AIM-120.
A State Department spokesman had no comment.
Gen. Peng confirmed that China last week test-fired its new AA-12 missile. According to U.S. defense officials, two Russian-made Su-30 jets fired the weapons at target drones and hit the targets.
"We have all the information about the test-firing," Gen. Peng said, declining to provide further details.
Gen. Peng said Taiwan's air force has deployed two other air-to-air missiles in its arsenal, the Tien Chien-II, which is deployed on Taiwan's IDF fighters, and the French MICA missile, which is carried on Taiwan's French-made Mirage 2000 fighters.
"The Tien Chien-II has a maximum range of 60 kilometers and a maximum speed of Mach 4, while China's AA-12 has a shorter maximum range of 50 kilometers and a slower maximum speed of Mach 3," the general said. "The MICA has the same maximum range as the AA-12 but has a greater maximum speed of Mach 3.5," he said.
A Taiwanese defense official told the Taipei Times newspaper that the missile delivery would take place soon because the country's air force has finished preparations for storage and operation of the missiles.
Taiwan has about 150 F-16 jet fighters deployed at several bases throughout the island.
The Pentagon said in its original announcement that the sale "will not affect the basic military balance in the region." The statement made no mention that the missiles would be stored in the United States.
Gen. Peng said future war-fighting scenarios call for development of long-distance and precision-strike weapons.
The general said Taiwan's military has no intention of provoking the mainland but will "learn from the enemy" by monitoring China's military buildup and increasing the military's combat training to maintain the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait.
--------
U.S. Mulls Missile Transfer to Taiwan
July 4, 2002
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-arms-taiwan-usa.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration may let Taiwan take delivery of advanced air-to-air missiles originally sold on condition they not be delivered straight away for fear of triggering a regional arms race, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
At issue is the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, which could be deployed on Taiwan's U.S.-built F-16 fighter fleet. Taiwan contracted for 120 of the combat-proven missiles in 2000. They are now in production by Raytheon Co.
``Our policy requires that these missiles not be released to Taiwan unless there is evidence that China has similar missiles as part of its operational inventory,'' said Defense Department spokesman Air Force Maj. Jay Steuck.
``Our policy is under review,'' he added. ``No decision has been made'' on whether the missiles will be sent.
Word of the policy review follows China's reported testing last week of a similar ``fire-and-forget'' missile, the AA-12 ``Adder'' built by Russia. Once fired, such missiles use an active radar on board to guide them independently.
The Washington Times, the first to report the test-firing, cited U.S. defense officials as saying two Russian-built Su-30 fighters had used the weapons to destroy target drones.
Any deployment of the AA-12, known as the R-77 in Russia, would significantly enhance Chinese combat capabilities against Taiwan's air force, defense experts said.
China considers Taiwan a wayward province that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary.
In Taipei, Maj. Gen. Peng Chin-ming, head of Taiwan's air force's operations bureau, told reporters on Tuesday that Taiwan was ready to take delivery of AMRAAMs and confirmed the Chinese test of its Russian equivalent.
Steuck, the Pentagon spokesman, declined comment on the reported Chinese test-firing, citing a policy of not discussing intelligence matters. Asked about the release of the AMRAAM to Taiwan, he referred a caller to the State Department, which oversees government-to-government U.S. military sales.
The State Department had no immediate comment, said a spokesman, Frederick Jones.
Richard Fisher, an expert on the Taiwan and Chinese militaries at the Washington-based Jamestown Federation, a research group, said Taiwan needed the AMRAAM to counter Chinese military advances.
In patrols over the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan fighters already were reluctant to approach within the ``envelop range'' of short-range air-to-air missiles that can be fired from helmet-sited gear used by Su-27 and Su-30 fighters, he said.
The AMRAAM has scored combat victories over the skies in Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo, according to Raytheon. It can be launched at an enemy aircraft day or night regardless of weather conditions.
-------- drug war
Anti-coca programs shelved to placate farmers
By Andy Olsen
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 4, 2002
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020704-82067504.htm
Peru, a nation hailed by the United States as an Andean success story in the war on drugs, has suspended its participation in U.S.-funded coca-eradication programs.
Also halted in the process was the related crop-substitution program, under which Peruvian farmers are paid to grow crops other than coca.
The programs were suspended after Peruvian officials met with farm representatives Friday and agreed to immediately end eradication of the coca plant - from which cocaine is made - in the Upper Huallaga Valley.
Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman Thomas Hinojosa said yesterday that the DEA was aware of the situation, but that it "is only temporary and will be back to normal" soon.
That view was also espoused by the Peruvian ambassador to the United States, Allen Wagner, who told The Washington Times last night that "the fight against drug trafficking in Peru has not suffered any setback."
The agreements between the Peruvian anti-drug agency and coca farmers deal with the "temporary suspension of the eradication programs in order to initiate immediately a coordinated eradication program in which the farmers will receive resources to replace coca cultivation with alternative crops."
Peru's action followed a series of violent protests by coca farmers against drug-eradication efforts.
It came just three months after President Bush visited Peru and promised to triple anti-drug money for the nation to $195 million.
Friday's meeting between Peruvian officials and farmers who grow coca ended two days of anti-U.S. strikes and protests in central Peru, in which growers sought to end both types of programs.
Coca farmers have decried a lack of compensation when government forces come and chop down their plants. Unlike in neighboring Colombia, aerial spraying is not used in Peru.
Farmers have also complained that programs in which they are paid to grow such substitute crops as vegetables have not worked.
The move frustrates U.S. hopes of stopping the rising cocaine production throughout the region, analysts said.
A further increase could threaten Peru's ability to receive aid from the United States and international agencies such as the World Bank.
"Our drug policy to Peru has been based on eradication and interdiction," said Adam Isacson, senior associate at the Washington-based Center for International Policy.
The change "could even effect Peruvian certification status next year," he said.
Peruvian officials said they formed a commission to evaluate the efficacy of U.S. drug strategy and to find ways to ensure that money for crop substitution goes directly to farmers instead of middlemen.
Crop-substitution programs in some regions have also been suspended until the commission reaches an agreement.
CARE, an Atlanta-based organization that has promoted alternative-development strategies in Peru for the U.S. Agency for International Development, met yesterday with the commission.
CARE has halted its program for alternative-development strategies in Apurimac Valley, one of four areas where it has operated for the past year, spokesman Allen Clinton said in a statement.
The sudden change will not soften the United States' stance toward Peruvian cocaine production, the DEA's Mr. Hinojosa said.
"We're obviously concerned," he said. "We're not going to let this stop our drug efforts down there."
The United States supports and trains coca-eradication brigades in Peru that are supposed to uproot 13,000 acres of plants this year.
But coca acreage - currently 86,000 acres - has been increasing, raising doubts about the effectiveness of eradication efforts.
As strikes and riots have become commonplace in Peru, President Alejandro Toledo has told coca farmers he supports alternative-development programs over eradication efforts, which most farmers oppose.
--------
U.S. Set to Resume Its Role in Halting Latin Drug Planes
July 4, 2002
By JAMES RISEN
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/04/international/americas/04INTE.html
WASHINGTON, July 3 - President Bush is expected to approve the resumption of a program to force down or shoot down airplanes suspected of ferrying drugs in Latin America, a year after the program was halted by the mistaken downing of a plane carrying American missionaries in Peru, American officials say.
Once the president gives final approval, the State Department would take over the program from the Central Intelligence Agency. American officials said air interdiction operations could begin in Colombia as early as this fall and would likely be expanded to Peru later. The Pentagon would support the program as well, providing intelligence about suspected drug flights gathered from ground-based radars and from other sources, officials said.
The program calls for the United States to identify and locate suspected drug planes and for Colombian and Peruvian air force planes to shoot them down if they do not respond to calls to land. American officials said the governments of both countries had expressed support for restarting the operation.
The program's many critics had assumed that the mistaken downing of the missionaries' plane, in which two Americans were killed, would make it impossible for the White House to start it up again. But the plans for resumption began months ago, and in recent weeks, Colombia's incoming president, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, visited Washington to urge an aggressive American role in stemming drug traffic from Latin America.
The decision to shift the management of the program to the State Department came after the C.I.A. director, George J. Tenet, made it clear that his agency no longer wanted any part of the operation, officials said. Since the plane's downing, Congress has placed restrictions on the C.I.A.'s involvement, officials said.
The C.I.A. said last year that an Alabama-based contractor, Aviation Development Corp., ran the program on its behalf. But Aviation Development was actually a C.I.A. front company, and public scrutiny of the operation after the downing prompted the C.I.A. to dissolve it, officials familiar with the program said. Alabama state records show that Aviation Development was dissolved in January.
But unlike Mr. Tenet, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has expressed strong support for resuming the air interdiction operations through the State Department, and he has repeatedly inquired about the progress of the department's work on the program, officials said.
Although Mr. Bush has not given final approval, the administration is already far along in its preparations for resuming the air interdiction program, several officials said. The Cessna Citation surveillance jets that the C.I.A. had operated in the program have been upgraded and transferred to the State Department, officials said. Colombian air force pilots have just completed flight training on the Citation jets in the United States and are scheduled to begin more advanced training as early as August in how to perform the complex interdiction missions.
In April, the State Department awarded a contract to a Maryland-based aviation company, Arinc Inc., to help train Colombian and Peruvian pilots and manage the operation, officials said. A spokeswoman for Arinc confirmed that the company had received the contract.
Arinc has tried to hire back many of the same workers who were involved with the program when it was run by the C.I.A. But some have refused, at least in part because they do not believe that the State Department is allotting enough time for training, according to people familiar with the program. Other American officials stressed, however, that the State Department plans to impose rigorous training standards.
One of the biggest changes under the new plan is that the Citation surveillance aircraft, previously flown by C.I.A. contractor crews, would be flown by Colombian and Peruvian pilots, officials said. Arinc would have one bilingual observer on each surveillance plane to offer recommendations. But the final decision on whether to direct fighter planes to fire on suspect aircraft would be with the Peruvian and Colombian pilots.
The United States would still provide the crucial intelligence for the missions, however, through an organization called the Joint Interagency Task Force-East. The task force, which is based in Key West, Fla., and is part of the military's Southern Command, would provide radar and other information to help Peru and Colombia know when to start their interceptor missions.
The administration suspended the air interdiction program immediately after a Peruvian air force interceptor jet shot down the missionaries' plane in Peru on April 20, 2001. Veronica Bowers, a missionary, and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, were killed. Her husband, James, and their son, Cory, survived. The pilot of the small plane, Kevin Donaldson, was able to crash-land it along the Amazon River despite his wounds from the attack. The Bush administration has asked Congress to approve an $8 million compensation payment to the survivors of the attack, but officials said a final settlement was still pending.
The air interdiction program, first begun during the Clinton administration in 1995, was designed to halt the shipment of semirefined cocaine from Peru to Colombia, where it was processed and then shipped to the United States.
In Peru, the American-piloted Citation jets helped guide Peruvian fighter jets to suspected drug flights, often after receiving intelligence from an interagency task force based in Key West. The final decision on whether to fire on the suspected aircraft was left to the Peruvians, but the American and Peruvian governments worked out specific procedures expressly to protect innocent planes from attack.
The air interdiction program in Peru quickly had a major effect on drug flights. Between 1995 and 2001, the Peruvian air force shot down or forced down at least 38 aircraft involved in drug trafficking and seized another dozen on the ground.
Eventually, drug traffickers began switching to ground or river transportation, and by the time the missionary plane was shot down, United States officials said, there were few drug flights still operating.
American officials say there is evidence of increased drug-related air traffic in Colombia since the interdiction operation was suspended, but they have only limited information about the volume of drug flights out of Peru. Some drug flights are now trying to skirt the Peru-Colombia border by flying over Brazil, but the administration has not asked Brazil to get involved in an expanded air interdiction program, officials said.
The State Department office that conducted the inquiry into the downing last year would be in charge of the new interdiction program. The State Department's August 2001 report on the incident concluded that the program had lacked adequate oversight, that over time too many informal shortcuts had crept into mission procedures, and that a language barrier had made it difficult for the C.I.A. contractors to have much influence over the Peruvian fighter pilots.
Officials say that before President Bush could officially sign off on the program, he would have to notify Congress that the administration is confident of adequate training effective safety procedures. The State Department and its contractor are moving ahead with training now so they could assure Congress about the program soon after the president formally notifies legislators, expected to be in the fall.
Since Congress imposed stricter standards on any resumption of operations in Peru, the administration may express readiness to resume air operations in Colombia first, and Peru sometime later.
-------- iraq
Saddam Hussein's Stepson Arrested
By TERRY SPENCER
Associated Press Writer
JULY 04, 2002
http://wire.ap.org/?SLUG=SADDAM%27S%2dSTEPSON
MIAMI (AP) - Saddam Hussein's stepson has been arrested on immigration charges after enrolling in a flight school that had been used by one of the Sept. 11 hijackers, federal authorities said.
Mohammed Nour al-Din Saffi, a citizen of New Zealand who has worked in commercial aviation, planned to attend classes at Aeroservice Aviation Center, said James Goldman, an INS assistant director for investigations.
FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said one of the Sept. 11 hijackers trained at the flight school. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel identified the hijacker as Ziad Jarrah, who is believed to have commandeered the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.
According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Iraqi leader's stepson was traveling as a tourist and had not applied for a student visa that would have allowed him to take courses.
There was no evidence that Saffi was connected to any terrorist group.
Goldman said Saffi was seeking recertification training at the flight school. The FBI said he is employed by an airline in New Zealand.
Saffi, 36, also failed to tell customs agents of his intent to take courses when he arrived Tuesday in Los Angeles on a flight from New Zealand, Goldman said.
Phone calls to Aeroservice Aviation Center seeking comment were not answered.
Orihuela, the FBI spokeswoman, said Saffi was tracked Wednesday as he flew from Los Angeles to Miami International Airport. He was taken into custody at a motel shortly after he arrived.
Saffi was at Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County and is being processed for deportation to New Zealand, Goldman said.
The Weekend Herald, a newspaper in New Zealand, reported in December that Saffi was employed by Air New Zealand as an engineer and had lived in the country six years.
They said officials in New Zealand had investigated Saffi after Sept. 11 when they learned he was Saddam's stepson. No action was taken, the paper said.
Saffi had declined to discuss his relationship with the Iraqi leader when asked by the paper. The Miami Herald reported that Saffi denied any family tie to the Iraqi leader and denied it to federal agents.
Air New Zealand declined comment, citing privacy concerns.
Mohammed Saffi is the eldest son of Samira al-Shahbandar, Saddam's second wife. His father is Nour al-Din Saffi, an aviation engineer and former head of the Iraqi Airways.
According to well-placed sources in Baghdad and in Iraqi exile circles, Saddam forced Nour al-Din Saffi to divorce al-Shahbandar in the late 1970s before Saddam married her. He has since married again.
Mohammed Saffi is believed to have left Iraqi after the 1991 Gulf War - first to neighboring Jordan and then to New Zealand - following an argument with his mother. The reason for the argument was not clear, but according to rumors in Baghdad, he and his father were afraid of Saddam's wrath. The father is believed to be living in exile in Jordan since Saddam fired him from his airline post.
--------
U.N., Iraq Make Weapons Progress
July 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-UN-Iraq-Talks.html
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Emerging from four hours of closed talks, U.N. officials and Saddam Hussein's representatives said Thursday that they had made some progress toward returning U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared he was ``satisfied'' with the session. But he sidestepped the question of whether a deal was near that would let inspectors back in Iraq for the first time in 3 1/2 years.
Pressed to make a prediction, Annan merely grinned and said ``Inshallah,'' the Arabic word meaning ``God willing.''
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri used the same word when asked if he got what he wanted out of the first day of a two-day session at the U.N. offices in Vienna. But he, too, appeared cheerful about the session.
``We exchanged views in a serious and earnest manner,'' Sabri said, standing next to Annan.
The hopeful assessments came just a day after diplomats deflected nearly every effort to get them to characterize the talks -- or suggest whether a breakthrough was even possible.
It wasn't immediately clear why there were smiles all around. Iraq had a broad list of subjects it wanted considered before going into talks, while the United Nations appeared focused largely on the return of its inspectors.
The Iraqi regime wants the United Nations to lift sanctions and address U.S. threats to topple Saddam before agreeing to U.N. demands.
Under U.N. Security Council resolutions, sanctions can be lifted only when inspectors certify that Iraq's programs to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed, along with long-range missiles that can deliver such arms.
The Security Council, and particularly the United States, has accused Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned weapons programs and of supporting terrorism.
The Vienna-based U.N. nuclear agency reiterated it was ready to return to the inspection task at any time. Jacques Baute, the agency's team leader for Iraq, said inspectors could move into the country within a few days of a decision.
In another sign of progress, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Iraq and the United Nations were close to agreement on returning Kuwait's national archives, which were looted during the 1991 Gulf War.
Describing the deal as significant, Eckhard said that ``it takes us in the direction of eventual normalization.'' The diplomats are working on how to handle the actual handover of the six truckloads of papers.
The two-day meeting is the third since early March between Annan and Sabri. After the last session in May, Annan reported progress.
Obstacles remain, however. Part of the problem is that Annan alone doesn't have the power to resolve the key issues Iraq wants addressed before allowing the return of inspectors, who left in 1998 ahead of allied airstrikes meant to punish Iraq for blocking inspections.
Sabri gave Annan a list of 19 political questions at their first meeting -- and Iraq is still waiting for answers. The questions focus on lifting sanctions, U.S. threats against Iraq and the ``no-fly'' zones over northern and southern Iraq enforced by U.S. and British aircraft.
Annan sent Sabri's questions to the Security Council, which imposed sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix answered the technical questions about inspections at the second round of talks, but the council decided not to respond to the political questions.
-------- israel / palestine
Arafat's chiefs ignore dismissal
By Greg Myre
ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 4, 2002
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020704-828070.htm
JERUSALEM - Two top Palestinian security chiefs dismissed by Yasser Arafat indicated yesterday they would not go quietly, adding to the upheaval in the Palestinian Authority, which already was confronted by protests over economic conditions.
The two officials, West Bank strongman Jibril Rajoub and Gaza Strip police chief Ghazi Jibali, said they had not received official notification.
"I will not leave my position until I get something official," Mr. Rajoub, head of Preventive Security in the West Bank, said in an interview at his Ramallah home.
Mr. Jibali insisted the reports were "rumors" and there was no sign he was ready to leave his post.
Mr. Arafat had rocky relations with both security chiefs, and the move was viewed as being at least partly related to internal Palestinian politics, rather than a move to reform the security forces.
The dispute came as Israel eased some of the restrictions it imposed on West Bank towns and cities and agreed to allow some Palestinian workers to return to Israel.
Israel and the United States have insisted that the Palestinians must streamline the multiple, overlapping security agencies and use them to prevent terror attacks against Israel.
Israel said it did not view the move as significant. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman, Raanan Gissin, called it "window dressing."
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer added, "I hope that the Western world and the Palestinians will understand that the one and only step that will rescue the Palestinians will be if someone gets up and tells Arafat simply, 'Take yourself and move over, and let others lead.'"
Mr. Arafat has given no indication that he will step down, and while many Palestinians have complained about their leaders, Mr. Arafat's position appears solid for now.
In Gaza City, thousands of Palestinians chanted slogans, carried banners and fired guns into the air during a march that expressed support for Mr. Arafat and denounced President Bush's call to replace him.
"We want everyone to know that Yasser Arafat is the only leader for this nation," said Dieb Louh, spokesman for Mr. Arafat's Fatah movement. "We condemn all the American attempts" to replace Mr. Arafat, he said.
In the nearly two weeks since Israeli forces moved into West Bank Palestinian cities to search for militants, the level of violence has dropped markedly. But some 700,000 Palestinians in seven cities and towns have been under curfew, and have been able to leave their homes for only a few hours every third or fourth day to stock up on food.
------- landmines
UN, US to help Egypt anti-landmine campaign
REUTERS EGYPT:
July 4, 2002
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16697/story.htm
CAIRO - Egypt will receive U.N. and U.S. help to clear millions of landmines it says have hampered development in its Western Desert for more than half a century, a government official said this week.
Egypt has 23 million landmines on its soil, the second largest number after Angola. They are mainly the legacy of fighting in Egypt between the British, Italian and German armies during the Second World War.
"The first phase (of the plan) will concentrate on the development of the northwest coast. This is extremely important to Egypt because of development projects in these areas," Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Faiza Abu el-Naga told reporters.
She said the project, due to start next year at a cost of $250 million, would receive help from a United Nations fund and the United States. She added that Germany, Britain and Italy had expressed readiness to help.
Egypt wants to clear the land for economic development, including tourism, mining and agriculture. Most of Egypt's population of 70 million people live in the narrow Nile valley.
-------- un
U.S. backs off threats to end mission
By Betsy Pisik
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 4, 2002
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020704-12615733.htm
NEW YORK - The Bush administration yesterday backed down from threats to end the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, with top officials saying the operation would continue despite unmet demands that American soldiers be given immunity from a new world court.
"From the U.S. perspective, nothing is going to happen," said Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"It's in together, out together," Gen. Myers told reporters in Brussels.
In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "We will not abandon Bosnia."
Hours later, after a day of closed-door negotiations in the U.N. Security Council, the United States agreed to extend by 12 days a U.N. police-training program in Bosnia that was to have ended at midnight.
The council voted unanimously to continue the program and keep negotiating over a demand that American peacekeepers be protected from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court.
The extension was logical "under the circumstances and given the discussions so far," said U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte. "No one has slammed the door on our proposals. It's been an uphill fight in gaining acceptance of positions we have been putting forward."
Washington had said it would block any extension of the Bosnia mission if the Security Council did not address fears that American peacekeepers could be arrested and prosecuted by the court for political reasons or on trumped-up charges.
"As the United States works to bring peace around the world, our diplomats and our soldiers could be drug into this court," President Bush said during a visit to Milwaukee on Tuesday.
U.S. officials had said they were considering scuttling a dozen U.N. peacekeeping missions when they come up for renewal.
During negotiations in New York, U.S. officials have also warned that failure to resolve the dispute could prompt Congress to re-evaluate the United States' 27 percent contribution to the U.N. peacekeeping budget from the United States.
Sixty-four unarmed American police officers serve in a U.N. mission to train a Bosnian police force.
An additional 3,000 American soldiers are serving with NATO's Stabilization Force, or Sfor. They would not be would not be immediately affected by the council's actions.
But because the NATO force is endorsed by the United Nations, the immunity from ICC prosecution sought by Washington would apply.
Yesterday's reprieve was the second time the Americans agreed to extend the Bosnian police mission.
On Sunday, the United States vetoed a routine extension of the 6-year-old mission after council members refused to shield participants in any U.N.-authorized or U.N.-endorsed military operation from the ICC.
However, U.S. officials gave the mission a three-day reprieve that expired at the end of yesterday.
The Americans spent most of yesterday lobbying Security Council members to grant U.S. peacekeepers immunity from the International Criminal Court, which came into existence Monday.
Specifically, the United States sought a 12-month deferral of investigations against individuals from nations that have not endorsed the ICC - an deferral that would be automatically renewed every July.
The United States has signed - but has refused to ratify - the 1998 Rome Treaty creating the court.
Soldiers from nations that have accepted the ICC treaty are already exempt from court jurisdiction while serving as U.N. peacekeepers.
Twelve of the 15 council members rejected the U.S. proposal, saying it would undermine the ICC.
But last night, U.S. officials said that they have the support of at least three other nations - China, Russia and Bulgaria - and that at least four others have indicated they are open to some sort of immunity.
Nearly 140 nations have signed the treaty creating the ICC, including 74 that have ratified it.
All 15 EU nations have ratified the treaty.
"The EU is wholeheartedly and unreservedly a supporter of the establishment of the International Criminal Court," said Chris Patten, the EU commissioner for foreign affairs.
"We are sorry that despite the amendments made during negotiation of the Rome Treaty, the U.S. has walked away from the ICC," he said yesterday in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
The Bush administration, under pressure from the Pentagon and conservatives in Congress, in April renounced President Clinton's decision to sign the ICC treaty.
Since then, the administration has worked to limit the treaty's scope.
The court was created to prosecute genocide and other crimes against humanity.
-------- POLICE / PRISONERS
Fighter jets to give air cover to Fourth
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 4, 2002
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020704-8495136.htm
Fighter jets will patrol the skies over Washington, New York and other U.S. cities tonight to guard against terrorism on the first Fourth of July since September 11.
President Bush, who was planning to watch Washington's fireworks from the South Portico balcony of the White House, urged Americans to attend tonight's celebrations.
"The president of the United States would encourage the American people to gather, to celebrate, to enjoy America's independence," said White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.
"The law enforcement community of the United States will do the worrying," he added. "They will take care of the precautions, and that's true at the state, the local and the federal level."
Officials said the government received no specific threats of terrorism and left its new color-coded system at yellow, the middle of five levels indicating an "elevated" alert. A general fear that terrorists might try to ruin America's most patriotic holiday was offset by an almost defiant desire to celebrate the nation's independence.
"We don't let the terrorists win by canceling America's holidays," Mr. Fleischer declared.
Tonight will mark the first time since April that combat air patrols have protected Washington and New York. Those patrols began immediately after the September 11 attacks and remained in place until officials felt the threat had lessened.
Tonight's patrols have little more than psychological value, said counterterrorism specialist Bill Cowan, a retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Marine Corps. A cunning and determined terrorist may be able to plow a fast-moving Lear jet, for example, into a crowd of Fourth of July revelers.
"This is all about reaction time," Mr. Cowan said. "And so it's first a matter of detecting that there may be something going wrong, and then deciding you're going to send some airplanes over to take a look at it, and then deciding, once they see who it is, that they're going to do something. But there may not be enough time."
The other danger, says Mr. Cowan, is that a slow-moving plane that accidentally strays into restricted airspace could be targeted.
"I've just got this nagging fear that someone like that guy who flew into White House airspace a few weeks ago will make some mistake and be stumbling along and get shot down," he said.
Only 52 percent of Washington area residents and 55 percent of New Yorkers said they felt safe enough to attend fireworks celebrations, according to a poll by Fox News Channel and Opinion Dynamics. The figures were much higher in other parts of the country.
To reassure jittery Washingtonians, the National Park Service has erected 10 miles of wood-slatted snow fencing to secure the Mall. Two layers of fencing were spaced about 15 feet apart to prevent anyone outside from handing harmful items to someone inside the inner fence, said National Park Service spokesman David Barna.
Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police will activate surveillance cameras in the Joint Operations Command Center, which is designed to deliver real-time information to officers on the scene. Officers there can watch footage from 12 cameras downtown.
The center will be staffed by several federal and local agencies, including the FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Marshals Service, Coast Guard, Fairfax County police and the D.C. fire department.
The U.S. Park Police, which is coordinating security plans, will be using the Metropolitan Police Department's surveillance camera system as well as its own temporary system, said Sgt. Scott Fear, a Park Police spokesman.
Mr. Barna said as many as 2,500 uniformed and plainclothes officers from various jurisdictions will be on duty. Celebrants entering the Mall will have to pass through metal detectors at 24 entry points.
Mr. Fleischer said increased staff at a national coordination center will monitor 2,100 of the largest Fourth of July events, which "can become something of a target for people who want to do us harm."
"As a precaution, the law enforcement community, the federal government, are joining together to take precautions around the country to help protect citizens against any generalized threat," Mr. Fleischer said. "A variety of actions are being taken on the ground in terms of greater resources, greater surveillance, greater protection, greater prevention, as well as an immediate operations setup in Washington to handle eventualities if they arise."
All 56 field offices of the FBI plan to monitor celebrations in their regions. The agency also will have extra agents staffing its primary operations center in Washington.
The FBI yesterday told all law enforcement agencies to "be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the FBI." The agency said the State Department was picking up increased communications among foreign terrorism suspects in recent days, although no specific threat could be ascertained.
•Brian DeBose and Arlo Wagner contributed to this report.
--------
Life, Liberty, Ashcroft
By Mary McGrory
Thursday, July 4, 2002
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22208-2002Jul3.html
On the Fourth of July we celebrate the signing of one of our two most consequential documents, the Declaration of Independence, which is about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," of which there seems to be less all the time. Two hundred and twenty-six years after the tremulous but resolute members of the Continental Congress took up their pens and scratched their names on the radioactive parchment, we have an attorney general whose most active pursuit is of the death penalty.
His zealotry has been detailed by The Post's Dan Eggen, who recounts how John Ashcroft is pressuring U.S. attorneys all over the country to seek the federal death penalty. In that context, we have to be grateful to the Supreme Court. It came out against the execution of the mentally retarded. This hardly seems a cause for the "publick happiness" which John Adams prescribed for observance of the day our ancestors threw off the shackles of British rule. In view of the moratoriums on all executions in two states, and growing abolitionism, it seems a small thing, but these dispiriting times make us grateful for small favors. And we are free to hope that judges elsewhere will follow the example of U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff, who bravely ruled that the federal death penalty, in view of the numerous instances of people being exonerated posthumously, was unconstitutional. He will doubtless be reversed, but it is a boon in lean times.
The Supreme Court, under the leadership of William Rehnquist, has been anxious not to be seen as a slacker in the war against terror. The majority seems to reflect a widespread opinion that civil liberties can be sacrificed on the altar of security. The justices didn't make a decision on the subject of detainees, those hapless souls rounded up and shifted from jail to jail and never charged or brought to court. A lower court judge ruled that detainees should be granted open court hearings. The Supremes didn't rule, but stayed the judge's order until Justice got a chance to have its appeal heard.
Anyone feel safer because Tony Oulai, now in his 11th jail, won't get to defend himself in open court or find out when he can go home to the Ivory Coast? There's little suspense on where this court will come out on the question.
The majority on the court also put its oar in on the war on drugs. It extended to school authorities the right to conduct drug tests on students other than athletes who compete against other schools. The madrigal singers and the jocks will be treated the same. It is hard to improve on the disdain expressed by a dissenting Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "capricious and perverse."
No blow dealt by the court was heavier or of more moment than the ruling on school vouchers for students in failing public schools. The majority, as Justice John Paul Stevens observed in his dissent, "has removed a brick from the wall that was once designed to separate religion from government." The majority who favored the removal seemed to derive a gimmicky satisfaction from the fact that the checks would go not to any religious school but to the parents of the children who would go to those religious schools. Justice David Souter seemed exasperated by such evasion. In an uncharacteristically vehement dissent, he wrote, "I hope that a future court will reconsider today's dramatic departure from basic Establishment Clause principle." It is difficult for devotees of public education, who believe a democracy can never be relieved of its duty to teach all its children.
The Signers and Framers were men of faith. The Declaration began and ended with a reference to the Almighty. But they fervently believed in separation of church and state, and they never felt called upon to fall into the paroxysms of piety such as overtook their modern-day successors when they heard a court say that the Pledge of Allegiance with "under God" was unconstitutional. It may well be, but with John Ashcroft playing Savonarola was this the time to say so? If comparable fury and outrage were directed at the Supreme bench for its cavalier treatment of the First Amendment, with its guarantee of church-state separation, it might be more seemly.
The executive branch provided an entry in the "small favors" department. President Bush's long-awaited address on the Middle East turned out to be a speech on how he felt about Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon. It was coercive and condescending and, as Michael Elliott points out in Time magazine, "could have been delivered by a colonial governor" -- or Rudyard Kipling, the poet laureate of the British Empire -- the same crowd the Declaration of Independence freed us from. The speech was irrelevant, but at least it guarantees that we will pick up no Arab allies, without whom we cannot invade Iraq. Bush may at least have inadvertently put off I-day for yet awhile longer.
-------- terrorism
Greek Raid Uncovers Terrorism Ties
Associated Press
Thursday, July 4, 2002; Page A18
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A22251-2002Jul3?language=printer
ATHENS, July 3 -- Dozens of police raided a hide-out believed to belong to the elusive November 17 terrorist group, discovering anti-tank rockets, missiles and a flag used by the group, media reports said today.
The discovery would be the closest Greek authorities have ever come to the rabidly anti-American group. November 17 has asserted responsibility for the deaths of 22 people -- including four U.S. officials -- starting with the 1975 killing of CIA station chief Richard Welch in Athens.
Police would not officially confirm or deny the reports, carried by state-run NET television and other Greek media, but police sources said the raid uncovered a significant amount of weaponry. No arrests were reported.
U.S. and British officials, who have been assisting Greek authorities for years in the hunt for November 17, were involved in planning the raid but did not participate in the operation itself, police sources said on condition of anonymity.
Blending militant left-wing politics with nationalism, November 17 is named for the date of a 1973 student uprising against the military dictatorship then ruling Greece.
Greece has come under intense pressure to crack down on terrorism as the country prepares to host the 2004 Olympics.
Today's raid appeared to follow from the capture of a man who was injured Saturday when a bomb he was allegedly carrying exploded as he walked past a busy dock in the country's main port, Piraeus.
-------- ACTIVISTS
Request for a message to Kobe
From: "kbnobu" <kbnobu@mub.biglobe.ne.jp>
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2002 10:27:01 +0900
Dear Friends,
The Kobe Port Council against A and H Bombs (Kobe Port Gensuikyo) will be marking the 1000th "6 & 9 Action" on August 6 2002. The Kobe Port Gensuikyo is composed of trade unions in the Port of Kobe, where the nuclear-free "Kobe Formula" has successfully prevented the entry of nuclear-armed warships into the port for the past 27 years.
The "6 & 9 Action" is an activity which takes place on the 6th and 9th of every month in commemoration of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It calls on the public to support the struggle for the total elimination of nuclear weapons as well as support for Hibakusha. This action, which is a basic activity of the Japanese movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons, takes place all over Japan, and is playing an important role to raise public awareness of the danger of nuclear weapons. Kobe Port Gensuikyo has been carrying out this activity every month since December 6 1966 at the busiest shopping mall in Kobe. The actions continued to take place even in the aftermath of the great earthquake of January 1995, amid the destruction of the City of Kobe.
These actions have been taking place without a break since 1966 and the 1000th action will be marked on August 6 this year. Over 9 million Yen has been donated and is distributed to Hibakusha in Hyogo at the end of each year. This 36-year-long action by the Kobe Port Gensuikyo has been a major force in the creation as well as the on-going nuclear-free "Kobe Formula". Kobe Port Gensuikyo is also heavily involved in the fight against the "Wartime Legislation Bills," which many Japanese fear will drag Japan into a US-instigated war.
We are holding a meeting on August 10, after the 2002 World Conference against A and H Bombs is finished, to celebrate our meaningful achievement. And we would be grateful if all those who have long supported and encouraged our cherished nuclear-free "Kobe Formula", could send us a message of solidarity and encouragement in our fight for a nuclear-free world.
For Peace, Shushi Kajimoto (Secretary General) Hyogo Gensuikyo kbnobu@fantasy.plala.or.jp kbnobu@mub.biglobe.ne.jp
Hyogo Council against A & H Bombs Chamoto Bldg., 6-7-6 Motomachidori, Chuo-ku Kobe 650-0022 Japan Tel.+81-78-341-2818 Fax.+81-78-371-2427 kbnobu@fantasy.plala.or.jp kbnobu@mub.biglobe.ne.jp
----
Two Killed at Carribean Summit Protest
By BERT WILKINSON
Associated Press Writer
JULY 04, 2002
http://wire.ap.org/?FRONTID=CSA&SLUG=CARIBBEAN%2dSUMMIT
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) - Police opened fire on demonstrators who broke into the presidential compound Wednesday, killing two people and wounding six others during a protest timed to coincide with the start of a Caribbean summit.
Demonstrators reacted by overturning and torching at least three cars and setting two commercial buildings ablaze. Riot police cordoned off the block as protesters shouted insults at them.
President Bharrat Jagdeo was not in his office at the time. It was unclear if any of the protesters were armed. Sixteen people were arrested.
Thousands of opposition supporters were marching Wednesday to protest alleged government discrimination just as leaders of the Caribbean Community were gathering in Guyana's capital, Georgetown, for an annual three-day summit.
Police said a handful of protesters broke away from a march and forced open a metal gate to enter the yard of the presidential compound.
Officers with the presidential police guard shot at the intruders with semiautomatic rifles, Deputy Police Commissioner Winston Felix said.
One man and one woman died of their wounds, hospital officials said. Six others were being treated for gunshot wounds, they said.
The president's office issued a statement calling the protesters' act an ``attack'' and an attempt to assassinate the president. Opposition officials didn't immediately respond to the accusations.
Community Secretary-General Edwin Carrington made no reference to the violence in his opening address a few hours later, and instead urged Caribbean leaders to embrace economic integration.
``We must now move to the finish line on the single market and economy,'' he said.
The 13 leaders attending the summit planned to discuss ways to fortify small economies battered by globalization and to ease an upsurge in violent crime.
Internal political tensions in Guyana had not been on the agenda, though the community previously brokered a peace agreement between the government and opposition.
The protest, organized by the opposition People's National Congress supported mainly by black Guyanese, was a demonstration against alleged discrimination by the government of Jagdeo, who is of Indian descent.
Guyana's 800,000 people are divided almost evenly between those of African and East Indian descent, and political allegiances follow ethnic lines.
``There will be no peace in Guyana if blacks are not given a fair share of the cake,'' said former legislator Phillip Bynoe, one of the protest leaders.
The owner of the destroyed buildings, Hardat Persaud, said protesters poured gasoline and set fire to stores carrying electronic equipment and appliances, gutting the buildings.
The violence drew attention away from the summit, during which Haiti is to be approved as the community's 15th member.
Leaders also were to discuss plans for a Caribbean Supreme Court to replace Britain's Privy Council as the highest court of appeal for many former British colonies.
Some Caribbean governments complain the council has sought to cripple their efforts to enforce the death penalty, which is illegal in Britain, and that its members - British aristocrats - have no relevance to judicial issues on islands thousands of miles away.
On the Net:
http://www.caricom.org
----
Chinese dissident cites protest failings
By Kausalya Mohan Babu
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
July 4, 2002
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020704-7543360.htm
A former Chinese political prisoner who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy demonstrations says "misconduct" by a few student protesters led to the betrayal of some of the movement's top leaders.
Zhou Yungjun, who spent three years in a Chinese labor camp for participating in the protests, said some of the student protesters helped Chinese authorities arrest leaders of the movement. Mr. Zhou later escaped to Hong Kong and received U.S. asylum in 1992.
"We, a group of grown-ups, who used to be called 'Children of Tiananmen Square,' are awakening and confessing," said Mr. Zhou, former chairman of the Beijing Autonomous Federation of College Students. "I feel very sorrowful about the incident, which has been a tragic lesson for us."
According to estimates by the human rights group Amnesty International, tens of thousands of student protesters were arrested after the demonstrations ended in an army crackdown that left several hundred people dead.
Mr. Zhou said on Tuesday that he does not regret the "heroic" movement in the spring of 1989 but wished there had been greater solidarity among the students to sustain the process.
He ran a business in New York until he returned to China in 1998, when he was arrested again and jailed for more than two years.
Mr. Zhou led a demonstration for democracy outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Monday when participants demanded the release of three top democracy leaders - Yu Zhijian, Yu Dongyue and Lu Decheng - who have spent 13 years in Chinese prisons since the Tiananmen Square protests.
--------
Campaigners fight to stop Japan nuclear cargo
REUTERS JAPAN:
July 4, 2002
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16695/story.htm
TOKYO - Anti-nuclear campaigners this week stepped up their bid to block a planned shipment of nuclear material from Japan to Britain, saying the cargo could be vulnerable to theft or attack.
Media have reported that a ship carrying mixed plutonium and uranium oxides (MOX), potentially capable of being used in weapons, will sail from western Japan on July 4.
This would coincide with America's Independence Day and would come just days after the U.S. State Department warned there was continuing potential for terrorist attacks.
"For this to be leaving in the midst of the alerts that the United States have put out is really the height of foolishness," said Tom Clements, a Greenpeace campaigner attached to the group's vessel, Arctic Sunrise.
Greenpeace plans to use its ship to stage a protest at Takahama some 300 km (190 miles) west of Tokyo, from where the British ship Pacific Pintail is expected to sail.
And in London this week the pro-environment group that wants to see the material stored on land rather than shipped across the world said it had sought a British High Court injunction to stop it leaving the dockside.
The fuel is being returned to British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) after a scandal in 1999, when Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co discovered that the British state-owned nuclear fuel reprocessing company had deliberately falsified data on the fuel it had shipped to the company.
The move follows an agreement between the Japanese and British governments and will cost BNFL 114 million pounds ($174 million), of which 40 million pounds is compensation to Kansai and the rest the logistical cost of the operation.
A spokesman for Kansai Electric, which had planned to use the fuel in commercial reactors, said it was not revealing the ship's departure date due to security considerations.
Greenpeace also criticised the security arrangements for the ship, which is equipped with a machine gun and will be accompanied on its trip by another armed freighter.
"We think that is inadequate. Consideration mostly took place before September 11," Clements said.
A BNFL spokesman in London said the company would "vigorously contest" a High Court injunction to stop the shipment.
"These ships are among the safest that travel on the seas with double hulls, buoyancy tanks, satellite navigation systems and double the crew they need," he said.
As for the fuel, he said it was inside a drop-tested flask that weighs 100 tonnes with steel walls several inches thick. "Even if they were to break open the ceramic pellets inside do not dissolve in water," he added.
UNDER WRAPS
Although the planned route has also been kept under wraps, leaders in countries that may find the shipment passing nearby have also expressed concerns about safety.
The ships will probably be escorted out of Japanese waters by coast guard vessels, but a coast guard spokeswoman declined to give any details of security arrangements.
"We will be taking the necessary safety measures," she said.
On Monday, in London the shipment obtained a key clearance form the British Environment Agency, which ruled that BNFL could classify the MOX as fuel rather than waste and thereby avoid the need to obtain a special licence for it.
"This decision follows a careful investigation into claims by Greenpeace that the British Nuclear Fuels cargo needs a trans-frontier shipment authorisation from the agency," it said.
"The Environment Agency has made its decision principally on the grounds that a use is foreseen for the fuel".
Campaigners have argued that the MOX is unlikely to be used as fuel, given existing stockpiles of similar material already in the UK, but BNFL says the material is fuel and has a commercial value.
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