CONTENTS:

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

1. World
2. Africa
3. Americas
4. Asia Pacific
5. Europe
6. Middle East
7. South Asia
8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare
9. Finance
10 Human Rights
11. Law and Legal Issues
12. Transportation
13. Weapons of Mass Destruction
14. Recently Published

FEATURE ARTICLE:
Israel's Bomb, and Nuclear Nonproliferation

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

1. World

International Anti-Corruption Day was marked on 9 December, one year after 114 nations signed the UN Convention against Corruption. Fifteen countries have ratified the convention, all from emerging economies.
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/event_2004-12-09_1.html
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crime_convention_corruption.html
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20291506~menuPK:34457~pagePK:64003015~piPK:64003012~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Transparency International released its annual Global Corruption Barometer, reporting that corruption has risen in a majority of countries around the world. Key findings of the survey include:

The climate change conference in Montreal ended with a series of breakthroughs to help combat global warming. The US walked out of the talks but returned and agreed to non-binding talks on long-term measures. Kyoto Protocol signatories - more than 150 countries - agreed to extend the deadline beyond 2012, with deeper cuts, and finalized implementation details including agreement on how to quantify gas emissions.
http://www.montreal2005.gc.ca/
http://unfccc.int/cop4/kp/kp.html
http://unfccc.int/2860.php

Relief has begun to reach villagers who fled an erupting volcano in Vanuatu but is still in short supply for the victims of the South Asian earthquake. With two feet of snow on the ground, three million people in Kashmir are suffering illnesses from the profound cold as well as crowded conditions, ranging from skin diseases to measles and pneumonia.
Disasters Emergency Committee
http://www.dec.org.uk
Kashmir International Relief Fund
http://www.kirf.org
Red Cross/ Red Crescent
http://www.icrc.org
Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org/eng/programs_emer_asiaquake.htm
UNHCR
http://www.unicef.org.uk
UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org
World Food Program
http://www.wfp.org

The Organization of the Islamic Conference concluded their summit of the leaders of more than 50 Muslim countries by warning that terrorism has put the Islamic world in crisis and that action must be taken against extremism. The meeting called for an action plan to rescue a "nation in crisis" that includes developing new legal measures among which are criminalizing incitement or financing of terrorism.
http://www.oic-oci.org/ex-summit/english/ex-summit.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4513464.stm

The International Labor Organization's report, "Key Indicators of the Labor Market" finds that globalization is increasingly failing to translate into new and better jobs that lead to poverty reduction.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2005/48.htm

There have been further cases on human infection with the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus in China and Thailand.
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_12_09/en/index.html
World Health Organization Director General Dr. Lee discussed this and polio with US President Bush.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051206-1.html
The US Congressional Budget Office released a report on "A Potential Influenza Pandemic: Possible Macroeconomic Effects and Policy Issues".
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdoc.cfm?index=6946&type=1

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent have approved an additional emblem, the red crystal, which has no religious, political or other connotation.
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/emblem-news-081205!OpenDocument

2. Africa

In Chad, security forces fired upon students who were demonstrating in support of their teachers, who have not been paid for three months. There have been conflicting reports of casualties, as high as two dead and 17 injured.

Democratic Republic of Congo forces continued their assault against Mai-Mai militiamen. At least 25,000 civilians have been displaced and relief efforts blocked by the fighting. Casualties are unknown.

Eritrea told UN observers from Europe and North American to leave the country and has continued its troop buildup at the border. Ethiopia has agreed to comply with a UN order to move soldiers away from its border. Tensions between the two countries remain high, and UN officials are continuing negotiations.

Ivory Coast has a new Prime Minister, Charles Konan Banny. He left his position as governor of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) to take up this post in which he says his first steps are to restore trust and organize elections.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki has sworn in a new cabinet despite the refusal of 16 nominated ministers and deputies refused to accept their positions.

Liberia needs international partners to help it complete the agenda under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, particularly with security reform. Former combatants in Liberia are reportedly being recruited for fighting in Ivory Coast. President-elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will take office in January.
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2005/764
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2005/745

Moroccan authorities have arrested an 18th suspected Islamist radical.

Nigerian riot police carrying live ammunition have clashed with stone-throwing youths connected to the banned Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in the southeastern city of Onitsha. At least three people have been killed. A subsequent strike called by MASSOB closed shops, schools and banks across the region. The protests have followed the continued detention of MASSOB leader, Ralph Uwazurike, who has been charged with treason.

Sudan's Darfur region has become increasingly violent. Banditry, looting, inter-tribal clashes, and rebel militias have contributed to attacks against each other and against humanitarian workers, forcing further evacuation of aid workers and grounding of aid flights. Sudan's army is increasingly involved. Peace talks have stumbled following increased demands from the rebel Sudanese Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement.

Zimbabwe's statistical office reports that the annual inflation has risen from 411 percent in September to more than 502 percent in November.

3. Americas

Bolivia's elections are scheduled for 18 December. The International Crisis Group calls this the crossroads:

Chile's presidential election is underway. Former defense minister Michelle Bachelet is expected to win, becoming the country's first female leader.

Colombia will open preliminary discussions about a possible peace process with the country's second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) on 12 December. Meanwhile, the long-running civil conflict is badly affecting indigenous people. Increasingly forced to flee traditional lands, more than a million people are badly affected and entire communities could disappear.
http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=439961674

Ecuador's interim President Alfredo Palacio has given up plans for a constitutional referendum after the Supreme Electoral Tribunal rejected the proposal. He wanted to go directly to the public after negotiations over changes to the political systems failed in the legislature. Political instability has ousted three heads of state in the last eight years, and the changes were meant to provide a stable base.

Haiti's Supreme Court ruled that Dumarsais Simeus could run on the presidential ballot. He was born in Haiti and is a dual US national, a millionaire, and popular in recent polls. His addition could force another delay as he is not on the official ballot. A presidential commission had previously banned him from running because of his dual nationality. A day after the Supreme Court ruling, the Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue dismissed five of the justices.

Honduras ruling National Party presidential candidate Porfirio Lobo has conceded defeat to Liberal Party candidate Manuel Zelaya Rosales.

In Peru, a police convoy was ambushed as it crossed a bridge in the coca-producing region of Ayacucho. Two drug trafficking suspects were freed -- apparently the purpose of the attack. Five policemen were killed and two injured. The electoral tribunal has confirmed that former president Alberto Fujimori cannot hold a public sector position or lead a party list until 2011, however he plans to run for president in 2006.

The 9/11 Public Discourse Project issued its final report on the Commission recommendations. It finds the US, moving at a crawl while terrorists are adapting quickly, is still vulnerable, with "more Fs than As" on 41 measures of progress, including preventing terrorists from acquiring WMD, ensuring emergency workers can communicate with each other, and distributing funds based on risk.
Report:
http://www.9-11pdp.org/press/2005-12-05_report.pdf
Summary of grades:
http://www.9-11pdp.org/press/2005-12-05_summary.pdf
Statement:
http://www.9-11pdp.org/press/2005-12-05_statement.pdf

Venezuela's elections gave President Chavez all 167 seats in parliament. The five main opposition parties boycotted the elections, which had a turnout of only about 25 percent. A two-thirds majority in parliament is necessary to make constitutional changes, such as changing the current limit of two presidential terms. EU election observers said the election was fair and transparent while Organization of American States observers had some reservations over keeping some polls open and some possible cases of pressure on public workers. Both agreed there was widespread distrust of the electoral system and called for confidence-building measures.

4. Asia Pacific

Australia has signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, a non-aggression pact among Asian nations. This allows participation in the first East Asian Summit later this month.
http://www.foreignminister.gov.au/transcripts/2005/051210_kl.html
http://www.aseansec.org/1217.htm

New South Wales parliament is holding an inquiry into " Issues relating to the operations and management of the Department of Corrective Services", including discussion of relocation of terrorism suspects without notice.
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/FEA6EE9D24D0E7F5CA2570C300016768

Burmese forces have attacked bases of Indian separatist rebels with the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) at their bases near the Indian border. In several days of fighting, an NSCN spokesman said three fighters were captured and a few injured by mortar and artillery fire. Burmese casualties are unknown, and their offensive is expected to intensify as it continues.

East Timor marked the 30th anniversary of the Indonesian invasion (7 December 1975) following the departure of Portuguese colonialists. They called for an international tribunal to investigate human rights violations. An Indonesian court has failed to hold a single military officer responsible.

Indonesian police and Muslim groups are offering security support ahead of Christmas to avoid a repetition of the bombing campaign in 2000. Security forces are on alert following reports of planned attacks.

Chinese paramilitary forces opened fire on rioting farmers and fishermen in Guangdong province when they were protesting that land was seized without compensation in order to build a power plant. The police commander who ordered the shooting, in which up to 20 people were killed, has been arrested and a special investigation opened.

Kazakhstan's Central Elections Commission said that President Nursultan Nazabayev won 91 percent of votes in the presidential election, awarding him a third 7-year term. The initial count gave Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, 6.6 percent of the vote and turnout was 77 percent. A preliminary report from Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers said there had been positive developments. However it did not meet international standards due to "undue restrictions on campaigning, harassment of campaign staff and persistent and numerous cases of intimidation by the authorities, [that] limited the possibility for a meaningful competition". The election pointed to "a continued need to open up political life in Kazakhstan, in order to allow meaningful competition among candidates and political parties".
http://election.kz/
http://www.osce.org/item/17236.html
http://www.osce.org/item/17266.html

The Philippines proposed anti-terrorism bill is unlikely to be approved before congress takes its holiday recess, but further readings will be held if there is a quorum. The US embassy in Manila was temporarily closed following a threat that local police say was a hoax traced to a pay phone in a local jail. New People's Army (NPA) guerillas attacked an army detachment that was securing a construction project, killing one civilian worker. The army continued operations against Abu Sayyaf militants, with casualties on both sides. Two men on a motorcycle assassinated leftist activist Cathy Alcantara with the Movement for National Democracy as she left a workshop for farmers and fishermen.

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Wong Kan Seng, described new terrorist threats:

5. Europe

Georgian military police arrested two South Ossetian officers, and South Ossetia detained three Georgian police and nine civilians. The civilians were subsequently released, but the incident suggests an escalation of tension in the disputed area, prior to resumption of a regional assessment.

Germany and Russia have begun construction of a gas pipeline to link them via the Baltic Sea. The pipeline bypasses Poland and Ukraine.

Moldova's breakaway republic of Trans-Dniester is holding its fourth parliamentary elections. It declared itself independent 15 years ago and hopes that the vote will help to end their international isolation.

Montenegro was the topic of a report from the International Crisis Group suggesting:

Romania has signed an agreement with the US to permit the US to use its military bases. This is the first such agreement with a former communist Eastern European country.

In Moscow, Russia, elections to the city assembly gave 47 percent of the vote to pro-Putin party United Russia, giving them 28 seats. The Communists will have four seats and the liberal Yabloko three. Nationalist party Rodina had been disqualified just before the vote when the Supreme Court rules one of their campaign ads inspired racial hatred. Turnout was about 34 percent, and there were reports of electoral irregularities.

Russia and India have signed an agreement for increased defense cooperation.

Spain's Basque separatist group ETA exploded five bombs on a roads circling Madrid and a sixth at a post office in Navarra, disrupting Constitution Day celebrations marking the 1978 signing of the post-Franco constitution. Warnings were given and there were no casualties.

In southeastern Turkey, rebels with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attacked a military unit, killing four soldiers and injuring two. Two rebels were killed in subsequent fighting and a military operation continues in the area.

The British parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) published "Counter-Terrorism Policy and Human Rights: Terrorism Bill and related matters". JCHR concludes that the proposed laws and disproportionate, could be incompatible with the European Commission on Human Rights, and should be rewritten.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200506/jtselect/jtrights/75/7502.htm

The Independent Police Complaints Commission inquiry into the fatal shooting of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in the London Underground is likely to sent its report to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of criminal charges.

A series of large explosions at a fuel depot in Hertfordshire injured 43 people, two seriously and caused a massive fire that is still burning. It is believed to be an accident, but anti-terrorism police are cooperating in the investigation.

6. Middle East

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, after receiving 20 percent of seats in parliament, says that if the US makes contact with them and it is in the interest of Egyptians, they would be receptive. There were a number of violent incidents ahead of and during the voting.

Egyptian chemist Midhat Mursi al-Sayid 'Umar ("Abu Khabab al-Masri") has been added to the US Rewards for Justice program, with a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. He is described as "an explosives expert and poisons trainer working on behalf of al Qaeda" who operated a training camp in Afghanistan and whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/wanted_captured/index.cfm?page=midhat_mursi

In Gaza, Israel escalated military operations in retaliation against rocket attacks launched from Gaza and a suicide attack in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya. The Israel Air Force used a series of air strikes targeting roads, facilities and individuals. Mahmoud Arkan of the Popular Resistance Committees was killed on Wednesday, and ten people injured. On Thursday two members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades were killed and six injured.

Iran's President Ahmadinejad drew widespread regional and international condemnation over remarks in which he suggested that the Holocaust might not have taken place and that Israel should be moved to Europe. Meanwhile, the government has approved plans to construct a second nuclear power plant and has signed a deal with Russia for surface-to-air missiles.

In Tehran an aged military plane crashed into a 10-story apartment block, causing a massive fire and killing 120 people, including 68 journalists that were going to watch the military exercise. Schools and nurseries have been closed and more than 1600 people sent to hospital as pollution in the capital reached critical levels.

Iraq's parliamentary elections are scheduled for 15 December. Security has been increased, including curfews and limits of mobility. The election, which will replace the transitional government with a 4-year assembly, has increased sectarian tensions and is being conducted against a backdrop of continued violence. There have been additional hostage takings, and at least one death, but the fate of those not released after the deadline imposed by their kidnappers is unknown. Attacks during the week included a suicide bombing that killed 43 Iraqi police officers and injured more than 70 when two attackers blew themselves up inside Baghdad's police academy. A suicide bomber on a bus in Baghdad killed 30 and injured more than 25. Another suicide attack on a patrol in Baghdad killed 12 soldiers and one civilian.

Israel's coastal town of Netanya suffered a suicide bombing. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed five and injured around 40 people. In response, Israel arrested relatives of the attacker and launched strikes against Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has also said it will not implement the agreement to permit bus convoys between Gaza and the West Bank or support economic activity until militants are disarmed.

Jordan's Islamic Action Front (IAF) and other Islamic parties have rejected the draft anti-terrorism law because it focuses on control of religion rather than addressing root causes of terrorism.

The Lebanese government promised to undertake a full investigation into the identities of up to 40 people found in a mass grave. In the eastern town of Baalbek, Hezbollah official Hussein Assaf escaped a bomb that struck his car. Israel was blamed for the attack but denies responsibility.

The International Crisis Group issued a new report that addresses "Lebanon: Managing the Gathering Storm". They find:

Syrian security forces clashed with a group of alleged Sunni militants. During the fighting five militants were shot dead and three blew themselves up. Another clash killed two suspected militants with the Jund al-Sham.

Syria denied reports in the Guardian, a British newspaper, that it was involved in secret peace talks with Israel. A spokesman said, "Syria has nothing to conceal and she rejects all kinds of secret contacts. Syria has always been working openly and under the lights. Such Israeli statements are repeated from time to time to attain media goals, mislead the world public opinion and make it believe that Syria has become weak due to the big pressures she is exposed to".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1661783,00.html
http://www.sana.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3735&newlang=eng

7. South Asia

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has appointed 34 members to the upper house of parliament as the 350 members elected for the country's first assembly in more than 30 years prepares for its opening on 19 December.
http://www.jemb.org/
http://www.af/
NATO has agreed to deploy 6,000 more troops in the south.
http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2005/12-december/e1208a.htm
They will address peace and security, not conduct military missions. The south and east are where most attacks occur. Clashes in the south last weekend killed 22 suspected militants and injured eight Afghan and foreign soldiers. Suspected Taleban militants attacked government offices in Helmand, killing seven police and five Taleban.

In Bangladesh, a suicide bomber with Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) blew himself up on a bicycle outside the Udichi (a secular cultural group) office in the northern town of Netrakona. Seven people were killed and 46 injured, including ten police. There have been numerous bombings in recent weeks. The death toll in the 29 November Gazipur attack increased to nine following the death of a lawyer, Nurul Huda. Police investigators recovered ten bombs from several districts, arrested at least 28 suspected militants, and dealt with repeated bomb threats. Muslim clerics have organized anti-terror protests around the country.

Indian police operating in the state of Assam have been given shoot-on-site authority against anyone not a member of the security forces who is found to be wearing military uniforms or carrying weapons. The measures are in response to fighting between the militant groups United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), representing the Karbi tribe, and the Dima Halam Daoga (DHD), representing the Dimasa tribe. In recent weeks more than 125 people have been killed in tribal violence characterized by guerilla attacks.

In Indian-administered increased levels of violence include gunfights last weekend that killed four militants and one policeman, and injured 16 people. An ambush by unknown militants killed two soldiers. In subsequent investigations, a Lashkar-e-Toiba cell was disrupted, and 22 militants arrested. A Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander, another militant, and a police officer were killed in separate incidents on Thursday.

Nepal's army chief has dismissed the Maoist ceasefire as a ploy to hide their activities. Large pro-democracy demonstrations continue, while King Gyanendra reshuffled his cabinet for the third time since his February seizure of power. More than 30 demonstrators were arrested.

In Pakistan's tribal Waziristan territories, four paramilitary soldiers are believed kidnapped in the South and one journalist in the North. Confrontations between suspected militants and criminals are believed to have killed 15; later in the week two more bandits were killed by suspected Taleban. In South Waziristan a bomb in the market town of Jandola killed at least 12 and injured 40.

A national ban on kite flying was renewed because the Supreme Court feared further fatal incidents. More than 40 people have been killed by kite strings coated in metal or glass to break the strings of rival kites. Some 300 protestors clashed with police, and the Supreme Court will reconsider the ban in January.

Sri Lankan troops were placed on high alert following violence over the weekend and a fresh attack in Jaffna on Tuesday in which a mine killed seven soldiers. Sri Lanka's new President Mahinda Rajapakse had initially said he would review Norway's role in the peace process but changed his mind and asked him to resume their mediation efforts. Norway responded that it will do so only if certain conditions are met. These conditions have not yet been specified.

8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare

Sophos' annual security report finds the number of new threats increased by 48 percent, with 15,907 new forms of malicious software identified. On average, one in 44 emails in 2005 were viral. The worst attack was Zafi-D, followed closely by Netsky-P. All of the top ten threats are windows-based worms, but the number of Trojan horses outweighs worms by nearly two to one. This reflects a trend towards theft of personal information. http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2005/12/toptensummary05.html

The AOL/National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) Online Safety Study reports that phishing attacks aimed at identity theft now affect 23 percent of Americans each month, and that 70 percent of those receiving such emails believed they were legitimate. Analyzing security of home computers, a majority still lack critical defenses but the number of spyware-compromised machines had dropped from 80 percent a year ago to 61 percent, and those infected with an active virus fell from 19 to 12 percent.
http://www.staysafeonline.org/news/press_dec07_2005.html

iDefense examined Sober worm code, identifying a planned hacktivisim attack for 5 January. Sober has been used by right-wing hate groups in the past, and this attack is connected with the anniversary of the founding of the Nazi party.
http://www.verisign.com/verisign-inc/news-and-events/news-archive/us-news-2005/page_036351.html

Sony is reviewing its copy protection strategy following further serious security vulnerabilities.
http://www.sonybmg.com/indexmediamax.html
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=942
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_12.php#004234
http://www.sonybmg.com/mediamax/titles.html

Britain's Department of Work and Pensions, part of Revenue and Customs, has shut down its tax credits portal following discovery of an attempted fraud using staff identities. An investigation is under way.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/downtime.htm

Jim McCarter, the Auditor General of the Canadian province of Ontario, has in his annual report to the Legislature reported that transportation ministry staff and private contractors had allowed 56,000 documents and license plates to be lost or stolen and that criminal checks of staff hires were not taken.
http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/reports_2005_en.htm

Russian security services have uncovered an identity fraud gang. A group of policemen and civilians have been arrested for forging official signature and number plates and other official documents being sold for large sums.

ID Analytics has released an analysis of four data breaches, finding that few of the identities breached were misused for criminal financial gain. They explain, "the reason for the minimal use of stolen identities s based on the amount of time it takes to actually perpetrate identity theft against a consumer. As an example, it takes approximately five minutes to fill out a credit application. At this rate, it would take a fraudster working full-time ˆ averaging 6.5 hours day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year ˆ over 50 years to fully utilize a breached file consisting of one million consumer identities. If the criminal outsourced the work at a rate of $10 an hour in an effort to use a breached file of the same size in one year, it would cost that criminal about $830,000".
http://www.idanalytics.com/news_and_events/20051208.htm

New York state's Information Security Breach and Notification Act came into effect on 7 December.
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A04254

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the report "Internet Management: Prevalence of False Contact Information for Registered Domain Names". It finds that more than five percent of domain names have been registered with data that appeared obviously and intentionally false without verification against any reference data in one or more of the required contact information fields. Nearly four percent had incomplete data in one or more of required fields. Accuracy of this information helps law enforcement officials investigate intellectual property misuse and online fraud, identify the source of spam, and to help resolve technical issues.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-165

Ontrack Data Recovery announced its list of the top ten strangest and funniest computer mishaps of 2005. The most bizarre:

US Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cyber Division head, Lou Reigel, discussed their role in investigating cyber crimes, ranging from Hurricane Katrina fraud to progress in investigating last month's Sober worm attack. Regarding cyberterrorism, he said terrorists are more sophisticated but there had been no major organized attacks directed against the US.
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec05/reigelbriefing120705.htm

9. Finance

Liberia's failure to reintegrate former rebels has led to an upsurge in illegal diamond mining and logging. Global Witness's report, "An Architecture of Instability", says that the lack of governance and control, leaving the critical link between natural resources and conflict unbroken, could fuel a return to warlordism.
http://www.globalwitness.org/reports/show.php/en.00083.html

Spain's Civil Guard has arrested at least six men and a woman (none Spanish) on suspicion of using complex bank transfers to finance the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a terrorist organization based in Algeria that is linked to al Qaeda.
http://www.mir.es/oris/lucha_in/2005/l120901.shtm (in Spanish)

The US Treasury has updated " Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines, Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-based Charities" for public comment. Press release:
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js3035.htm
Draft Guidelines:
http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/key-issues/protecting/docs/guidelines_charities.pdf
Comments:
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/key-issues/protecting/charities-intro.shtml

With the rash of bombings in Bangladesh, investigations are underway to counter their financing, but control of charitable funds needs more work, as illustrated in "Government okays release of fund to 'terror funder'" and related news reports.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/12/05/d5120501044.htm
http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/11/26/d5112601022.htm
http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/12/09/d5120901118.htm

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) will streamline electronic reporting systems into a single secure web site as of 6 February 2006. The new system, F2R, replaces the earlier FRPS software.
http://www.fintrac.gc.ca/reporting--declaration/Info/change_e.asp

10. Human Rights

Torture dominated news this week, as US Secretary of State Rice visited her European colleagues. From Brussels to Moscow, she faced a barrage of questions related to the use of European facilities for extraordinary renditions. Poland has joined other countries with a formal inquiry into claims that the CIA had operated secret prisons or interrogation centers in the country. Rice's insistence that the US did not send people to be tortured was crafted in narrow legal terms that left plenty of uncertainty regarding US actions. Combined with a policy shift in which she said that the UN treaty on torture applies to US interrogators both at home and abroad, her efforts offered a palliative to her concerned colleagues.
http://www.state.gov/secretary/trvl/57396.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4502632.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4508988.stm
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/08/usdom12179.htm

For the first time, the US has acknowledged that it has not given the Red Cross access to all detainees in its custody and says that it would be too dangerous to do so.

Britain's Law Lords have ruled that evidence obtained by torture cannot be used in British courts. They unanimously allowed eight terrorism suspects to appeal their cases. The case arose from an appeals court ruling that the UK was not obligated to inquire about the origins of evidence even if obtained through torture by agents of another country with no UK involvement.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldjudgmt/jd051208/aand-1.htm

Malaysia's Internal Security Ministry plans to tighten censorship of militant publications.

Human Rights Watch has called for protection of foreign maids in Singapore, who do not fall under its Employment Act and are therefore subject to abuse that amounts to forced labor.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/07/singap12125.htm

The UN General Assembly has adopted a new Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel to expand the 1994 peacekeeping convention so that there are additional legal protections for humanitarian workers in light of more than 200 deaths in the line of duty.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=16863

International Human Rights Day was marked on 10 December.

11. Law and Legal Issues

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was impeached in Nigeria's Bayelsa state assembly. Thus deprived of immunity from prosecution as state governor, he has been arrested. He has been charged in the UK with laundering more than $3 million, and a warrant for his arrest was issued for his failure to appear in court.
http://www.efccnigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=739&Itemid=2

Sami al-Arian, a university professor in Florida, has been cleared in US court of eight of 17 charges connected with funding Islamic Jihad. The jury deadlocked on other counts and he remains in custody pending a possible retrial. Codefendant Hatem Naji Fariz was found not guilty on 24 counts, and the jury deadlocked on eight. Sameeh Hammoudeh and Ghassan Zayed Ballut were acquitted of all charges.

Vladimir Arutyunian's trial in Tbilisi, Georgia, has opened. He is charged with throwing a grenade while Georgian President Saakashvili and US President Bush were holding a public address, in an attempted assassination of Bush. The grenade failed to explode. He is also charged with killing a policeman before his arrest.

Miroslav Bralo, a Bosnian Croat paramilitary, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes during the 1990s Balkans war.

Justin Ngole Dalo ("Koliba"), a Front for the National Integration/Patriotic
Force of Resistance in (FNI/FRPI) militia leader, has been arrested in the eastern Ituri district of Democratic Republic of Congo. He is accused of ordering the murder of nine UN peacekeepers and a hundred civilians at the beginning of this year.

Avi Dichter, the former Director of Israel's General Security Services (Shin Bet), faces a lawsuit brought on behalf of relatives of Palestinians killed in a 2002 Israeli air strike that killed a senior member of Hamas and 14 other people, including eight children.
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=BUQKArSXpX&Content=676

Denis Donaldson, Ciaran Kearney, and William Mackessy have been acquitted of all charges in connection with alleged Irish Republican Army (IRA) spying at the Northern Ireland parliament.

Peter Eaton was found guilty in Afghanistan of gunrunning. The British citizen has been given a 2-year suspended sentence and freed, but must attend a prosecution appeal hearing in a few weeks.

Ante Gotovina has been arrested in the Canary Islands on war crimes charges. The Croatian general will be transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. He is one of the most wanted among the Balkans war crimes fugitives.
http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/index-e.htm

Khaled El-Masri has sued US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenant and other officials for kidnapping the German citizen and illegally transporting him to an Afghan prison under the policy of "extraordinary renditions". US officials have acknowledged to Germany that his detention was a mistake.
http://www.aclu.org/natsec/emergpowers/22207prs20051206.html

Kazi Nurur Rahman was charged in a London court with five offenses, including two under the Terrorism Act 2000, related to alleged terrorist and weapons activities.

Ayman Sabawi, a nephew of Saddam Hussein, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for illegally crossing the Syrian border. The Baghdad court had previously sentenced him to six years in prison for financing the insurgency and making bombs. The sentences will be consecutive.

Kenichi Shinoda, boss of Japan's powerful Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, turned himself in to police after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against a six-year sentence following his conviction for illegal possession of weapons.

Chris Ward has been charged in Northern Ireland court with the 2004 Northern Bank robbery. The bank employee had reported being taken hostage and forced to aid the robbers, and now claims the police action is an attempt to frame him. Three other men have been previously charged in connection with the incident. Charges of collecting and recording information likely to be of use to terrorists against Peter Kelly have been dropped.

12. Transportation

More than three years before the 9/11 attacks on the US, US officials warned Saudi Arabia that Osama bin Laden might target civilian aircraft. This information is based on newly declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20051209/index.htm

US air marshals shot and killed Rogoberto Alpizar in Miami airport. The man was reportedly mentally disturbed and began acting erratically, possibly claiming to have a bomb. He was unarmed and there were no explosives. His wife claims she told the air marshals that he suffered bipolar disorder ad had not taken his medication. An inquiry is under way and the two officers involved have been put on administrative leave pending results on the investigation. This is the first such use of deadly force since the air marshal program was expanded after 9/11.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1138755,00.html
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report into the service recommended improved planning and controls
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-203

Australia could authorize helicopters to shoot down "rogue" aircraft during the 2006 Commonwealth games.
http://newsletters.fairfax.com.au/cgi-bin16/DM/y/evUY0InFtU0Bhi0I2rw0ES

President and CEO of Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), Jacques Duchesneau, spoke to the Conference Board of Canada regarding "Business and Technology Opportunities in National Security and Public Safety". He described the layered air transport systems in place and in development, including biometric screening. Addressing new technologies, he emphasized that, "we must never forget that equipment, technology and human judgment go hand in hand; it is this combination that gives strength to our layered system". Executive Vice President Mark Duncan says that their use of fingerprint and iris scans for employees will be the first national airport security system in the world that is based on biometrics.
http://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/english/media/speech_discours/2005-12-06.htm
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1133910614413

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Wong Kan Seng, discussed maritime security: " The Malacca Straits and Singapore Straits are among the world‚s most important shipping routes. Some estimates indicate that as much as a third of the world‚s commerce and half of the world‚s oil is conveyed through these waters. Maritime security therefore is critical not just to a global trading port like Singapore but also to ensuring the economic and energy security of the Asia Pacific. The impact of terrorist acts in our waterways can be catastrophic, given our dependence on the safe and unimpeded passage of sea-borne commerce. Any disruption of such major maritime routes or sea lanes may be a rupture in a global supply chain network with serious consequences for many countries. It is a danger which our security agencies have to grapple with".
http://www2.mha.gov.sg/mha/detailed.jsp?artid=1827&type=4&root=0&parent=0&cat=0

Somalis face serious food shortages as pirate attacks have caused major disruption in transportation of food aid. The World Food Program can no longer send food by sea so has to go by road in convoys from Kenya. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50494

The International Maritime Bureau maintains its Alert:

Israel and the US have agreed to install nuclear and radiological detection equipment, under the US National Nuclear Security Administration's Megaports Initiative.
http://www.iaec.gov.il/pages_e/dover_05-12-08.asp

13. Weapons of Mass Destruction

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer spoke to the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific regarding proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which he characterized as "posing one of the greatest threats to international and regional security". He outlined trends in unchecked proliferation, including the cases of North Korea and Iran; the opportunities for proliferators and terrorists represented by freer trade; export of nuclear expertise such as in the Khan network; expansion of missile capability; and the rise of transnational terrorism.
http://www.foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/2005/051207_cscap.html

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state regulators have issued legally binding requirements for increased controls on radioactive materials that could be of use to terrorists.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2005/05-164.html

Armenia and Haiti have ratified the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Britain's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has announced funding of initiatives to create a center of excellence in decommissioning and offer other training and development in West Cumbria and other areas affected by nuclear decommissioning.
http://www.nda.gov.uk/News--News_(1284).aspx?pg=1284

The US Department of Health and Human Services began a series of meetings with state and local officials to plan for pandemic response. US Senator Bill Frist called for aggressive measures to address economic damage from a pandemic - amounting to as much as a five percent loss of GDP, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2005pres/20051205.html
http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=2188&Month=12&Year=2005

The BBC World Service's World Today program looked "at the stories behind one of the world's most iconic weapons, the AK-47.... speaking to the people who trade in it, the people who carry it, and the people whose lives have been destroyed by it".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4499478.stm

14. Recently Published

Paul Aarts and Gerd Nonneman, editors, "Saudi Arabia in the Balance: Political Economy, Society, Foreign Affairs", Hurst

David Gilmour, "The Ruling Caste: Imperial Lives in the Victorian Raj", Farrar Straus and Giroux

Uzodinma Iweala, "Beasts of No Nation", Harper Collins (novel)

Jack McCallum, "Leonard Wood", New York University Press

Joanna Scott, "Liberation", Little Brown (novel)

Peter York, "Dictator Style" Chronicle Books/Atlantic Books

FEATURE ARTICLE: Israel's Bomb and Nuclear Nonproliferation

In January 2004 we discovered that the architect of Pakistan's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, headed an international nuclear supermarket. Among his clients were Iran and North Korea, whose nuclear programs have continued to expand. In the past year, the United States has considered strategies to develop new nuclear weapons that could penetrate underground, be deployed in space, and operated on the battlefield.

This May, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference opened with an ambitious agenda to address nuclear security and end the threats presented by proliferation and the possibility that nuclear or radiological materials could fall into the hands of terrorists. It is no surprise that the conference ended a month later with agreement only to continue talking. The balance represented by the NPT is fragile and probably unsustainable. It asks existing nuclear powers to disarm and that no new weapons be developed, while supporting peaceful uses.

New revelations this week regarding development of Israel's nuclear program illustrate the complexity of the challenge.

Israel was interested in atomic energy from the time the nation was founded. Low-grade uranium deposits were found in the Negev Desert in 1948 and nuclear scientists were actively recruited. In 1952 the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission was secretly founded within the Ministry of Defense. Soon after, Israeli scientists were able to extract uranium and make heavy water. France began to cooperate with Israel on nuclear research. Scientists were trained in the US under the Atoms for Peace program in the late 1950s. Israel purchased nuclear reactors from France and the US. The Suez crisis expanded French/Israeli cooperation to accelerate weapons research. The Dimona nuclear facility was started in October 1957. France and Israel secretly agreed to construct the facility for scientific research, and construction began in 1958. Soon after, Norway sold 20 tons of heavy water to Israel. In 1960, Britain's "Daily Express" reporter Chapman Pincher broke the news that "Israel May be Making an A-bomb", working on its own weapons.

On 3 August 2005, investigative reporter Michael Crick with BBC Newsnight revealed that Britain played an important role in helping Israel build its bomb, and concealed that from the US and others.

France could not supply the heavy water necessary for the Dimona reactor and asked the US, which refused to provide it without strong safeguards to ensure it was only for peaceful purposes. The French then turned to Norway, the world's largest producer, but they did not have a sufficient quantity. The UK had bought a large supply from Norway that it no longer needed. Norway recommended Israel could obtain the heavy water from them.

Under the secret deal, Britain was paid 1.5 million pounds (20 million today). Safeguards were deemed "overzealous". Norway, which brokered the exchange, had the right to inspect the heavy water for some 30 years but did so only in April 1961 when it was in storage. Indeed, the civil servants involved in the agreement apparently took no heed of the political, technical or policy implications and treated it as merely a beneficial financial transaction with Norway. They decided it was preferable not to mention the transaction to the US, which at the time was deeply concerned about Israel getting the bomb.
At the time of this report, documents in the British National Archive suggested that the government ministers in the Macmillan government had not been consulted and that civil servants with the Foreign office and the UK Atomic Energy Authority has acted on their own. After the initial report Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells confirmed this impression by claiming that "the UK was not in fact a party to the sale of heavy water to Israel" and had only negotiated "the sale back to Norway of surplus heavy water". This assurance was also given to the IAEA and its member governments.

Now, documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the UK was a knowing party to the deal, and intelligence assessments confirmed that the sale was crucial to Israel's development of weapons. For example, there is a copy of the contract and a March 1961 Joint Intelligence Bureau report that says, "The main Israeli achievement in the importing line relates to 20 tonnes of heavy water ... negotiations were undertaken whereby the water ultimately passed into Israeli hands". These revelations have led to allegations of a cover-up, that Mr. Howells had been deliberately misleading, and to demands for an inquiry. (Updates to this case will be covered in this Newsletter as they occur.)

Israel has never officially confirmed or denied that it has nuclear weapons, but it is believed to have the most advanced nuclear weapons program in the Middle East, with between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads. Israel is not a signatory of the NPT and does not permit inspection of its nuclear facilities.

On 10 December, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei received his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. In his acceptance speech, he discussed the interrelated "threats without borders" that we all face, and used that as the context to understand nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. He cited " the emergence of an extensive black market in nuclear material and equipment; the proliferation of nuclear weapons and sensitive nuclear technology; and the stagnation in nuclear disarmament". To address these requires keeping nuclear and radiological material out of the hands of extremist groups, tightening control over operations for producing nuclear material that could be used in weapons, and strengthening the verification system. Above all, "if we hope to escape self-destruction, then nuclear weapons should have no place in our collective conscience, and no role in our security".

The Director General concluded his speech with words that seem particularly pertinent in a week that also marched the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death:

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