Nonproliferation News-October 5, 2009

EAST ASIA
1. N. Korea calls for increased exchange, cooperation with South
Korea Herald
October 3, 2009
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/10/03/200910030005.asp

A North Korean newspaper called Saturday for increased inter-Korean exchanges and cooperative projects with the South, underscoring the need to carry out accords reached by leaders of the two countries in the past, according to Yonhap News.

2. Washington’s pick for N.K. human rights envoy expected to work with nuclear team: source
Yonhap News
October 3, 2009
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2009/10/03/91/0401000000AEN20091003000700315F.HTML

Robert King, the nominee for the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, is expected to also work as a member of Washington's team working on multilateral talks aimed at denuclearizing the communist country, a diplomatic source said Saturday.

3. Report: North Korean ship detained in India
Associated Press
October 4, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5goJ7KzTnjKWpbKjS87wg2W_4zKpAD9B48N980
India's coast guard has detained a North Korean ship headed for Pakistan after it dropped anchor in Indian waters without permission, a news agency reported Sunday.

4. Chinese premier meets Kim on visit to North Korea
AP
October 4, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jxywfYOEUe0Z5qQlwrNlpGDA1XOQD9B45NAO0

China's premier met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on Sunday at the start of a state visit amid signs the North may be willing to restart talks over its nuclear programs.

5. S. Korea, Russia agree on closer cooperation on N. Korea’s nuclear
Yonhap News Agency
October 3, 2009
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2009/10/03/56/0401000000AEN20091003001200320F.HTML

South Korea said Saturday it has agreed with Russia to closely cooperate to try to persuade North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program.

6. NKorea got $2.2B under failed disarmament deals
Associated Press
October 5, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jIUMgKnfmtyg8T8wMAghB4V2lInAD9B4U40G0
North Korea has received the equivalent of about $2.2 billion under deals aimed at persuading the isolated nation to dismantle its nuclear facilities, a South Korean lawmaker said Monday, in what his office says is the first accounting of the cost of the failed strategy.

7. China, NKorea vow to strengthen friendship
AFP
October 5, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j1-rgE5OgEcbAAGUCIMwjrIE0E_Q

China and North Korea vowed Monday to strengthen a friendship which they said preserved regional peace, as Premier Wen Jiabao pressed on with a mission to bring Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.

8. Q+A: What will come of Chinese PM’s visit to North Korea
Reuters
October 5, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE5940KE20091005

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on a three-day visit he began on Sunday, when the neighbors signed a pact on China's economic aid to the impoverished North.

MIDDLE EAST
9. Israel names Russians helping Iran build nuclear bomb
London Times by Uzi Mahanimi
October 3, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6860161.ece#

Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has handed the Kremlin a list of Russian scientists believed by the Israelis to be helping Iran to develop a nuclear warhead. He is said to have delivered the list during a mysterious visit to Moscow.

10. Report says Iran has data to make a bomb
Reuters
October 3, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE59228E20091003

A confidential analysis by staff of the U.N. nuclear watchdog has concluded that Iran has acquired "sufficient information to be able to design and produce" an atom bomb, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

11. Mubarak urges Israel to reconsider its Mideast policies
AFP
October 3, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iNBLC8iyu6artjhVC1TP_krJAQ7A
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday urged Israel to reconsider its Middle East policies, warning that any bid to impose "a fait accompli" solution would not bring peace to the region.

12. IAEA chief arrives in Iran to discuss enrichment site
Reuters by Parisa Hafezi
October 3, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5920SW20091003

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency arrived in Iran on Saturday for talks on a timetable for inspectors to visit a newly disclosed unfinished nuclear enrichment plant, state radio reported.

13. Iran: We reached no deal to ship nuclear fuel
Press TV
October 3, 2009
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107721&sectionid=351020104

Tehran has rejected reports of a deal with world powers to ship its low enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for further processing, says an official.

14. Ahmadinejad: Western media “weapon of subterfuge”
Press TV
October 3, 2009
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107711&sectionid=351020101
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says corporate media has turned into a weapon of subterfuge, with the sole aim of advancing the West's political agenda.

15. Iran: Powers must make up for past mistakes
Press TV
October 3, 2009
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107709&sectionid=351020104
Iran's top nuclear negotiator says some world powers have opened a door for cooperation by accepting that they have to make up for their former flawed policies.

16. U.N praises Iran “co-operation”
BBC News
October 3, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8288121.stm

Mohamed ElBaradei, who is visiting Tehran, said this was a "critical moment" and urged Iran to be as transparent as possible.

17. US urges global action against Iranian banks
AFP
October 4, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzPOztjCQ8FZ79W02fr9pkXHAqeQ
The United States on Sunday urged global action against "money laundering and terror financing risks" from Iran and said sanctions against Iranian banks should be implemented by all nations.

18. Emirates leader signs law to develop nuclear power
Associated Press by Barbara Surk
October 5, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jqdD7UMRlKV714f0TtfjnLCFFM4QD9B4SQ4O0
The president of the energy-hungry United Arab Emirates has signed a law regulating the development of a civilian nuclear program, clearing the way for construction of a nuclear power plant with help from the United States.

SOUTH ASIA
19. Myanmar says nuclear ambitions are peaceful: Japan
Reuters by Ek Madra
October 3, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5921IO20091003

Japan said on Saturday it had been assured by military-ruled Myanmar that it was not developing nuclear weapons even though it was working with Russia on a nuclear energy program.

20. Key Indian Figures Call for New Nuclear Tests Despite Deal With U.S.
Washington Post by Rama Laskshmi
October 5, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/04/AR2009100402865.html
A little more than a year after India and the United States signed a historic civilian agreement lifting a 30-year ban on nuclear trade, some former top nuclear scientists here are arguing that India needs to conduct another weapons test.

RUSSIA/FSU
21. Russia’s Lavrov to meet Hillary Clinton on Oct. 13 in Moscow.
Ria Novosti
October 3, 2009
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091003/156337286.html

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on October 13 in Moscow after bilateral arms reduction talks, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

22. IAEA to inspect Iran’s Qom site October 25
Reuters by Parisa Hafezi
October 4, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE5930NX20091004

U.N. experts will inspect Iran's newly disclosed uranium enrichment plant on October 25, the IAEA nuclear agency chief said on Sunday, praising a shift "from conspiracy to cooperation" between Tehran and the West.

MISCELLANEOUS
23. Lawmakers vow swift action over Iran’s alleged nuclear inroads
AFP by Stephanie Griffith
October 4, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hjTLhjE7ndHJMylf3D3Gpn3uq8rw
US lawmakers on Sunday vowed quick action against Iran following a report that weapons experts believe Tehran has the know-how to build an atomic bomb -- even as a senior US official downplayed the news article.

OPINION
24. The Coming Failure on Iran
Washington Post by Jackson Diehl
October 4, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/02/AR2009100204020.html
The Obama administration's positive tone following its first diplomatic encounter with Iran covers a deep and growing gloom in Washington and European capitals. Seven hours of palaver in Geneva haven't altered an emerging conclusion: None of the steps the West is considering to stop the Iranian nuclear program is likely to work.

25. Is North Korea Ready to Return to 6-Party Talks
Chosun llbo
October 6, 2009
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/10/05/2009100500550.html

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao began a three-day visit to North Korea on Sunday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il personally greeted him at Pyongyang Airport. The official purpose of Wen's visit is to commemorate 60 years of relations between the two countries, but the meeting between Wen and Kim is widely expected to lead to a turning point in multilateral efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear standoff, with hopes that the North will take the opportunity to announce its return to six-party nuclear talks.