IAEA may need intelligence arm against atom terror
VIENNA , April 1, 2009 — The U.N. atomic watchdog may need to set up its own intelligence unit to combat a growing menace of nuclear terrorism, a former senior CIA official said in an interview Wednesday.
The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flies in front of the Vienna headquarters at the Vienna International Center, Friday, March 27, 2009. (AP)
“The good news is that no credible information has surfaced that al Qaeda has obtained weapons-usable nuclear materials. The bad news is that (these) are missing in significant quantities,” said Rolf Mowatt-Larssen.
He said the International Atomic Energy Agency, with its expertise probing shadowy nuclear activity in Iran and the A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling ring, could be well placed to transcend national barriers to intelligence-sharing on atomic threats.
“We urgently need to overcome bureaucratic and security impediments to finding a way via the IAEA or another (multilateral) way to greatly expand how nations work together to find loose nukes,” he told Reuters.
“No single state has all the answers. We should leverage the IAEA’s expertise, broaden (its) mandate in this regard … to supplement and support national efforts.”
He headed the CIA’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and terrorism division and the U.S. Energy Department’s intelligence arm before leaving government in January to join a Harvard think tank concerned with the unraveling of the global nuclear order. The IAEA has struggled to resolve allegations of covert, proliferation-prone nuclear work in Iran and Syria and prevent losses or theft of nuclear materials in part for lack of timely provision of intelligence by member states, its officials say.
They have welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama’s promise to cooperate more with the IAEA after chiding the unilaterally minded Bush administration for withholding intelligence of potential help in extracting transparency from Iran and Syria.
“LIVING ON BORROWED TIME”
Mowatt-Larssen, speaking on the sidelines of a 90-nation seminar on nuclear security held under IAEA auspices, suggested countries could second intelligence officials to the U.N. watchdog or it could hire retired agents.
“They could use their connections with member governments while reducing the IAEA’s dependency on them,” he said.
“It’s urgent because there’s been a fundamental breakdown in nuclear security. The record of material seizures shows they have been serendipitous, not because (police) were looking for it,” said Mowatt-Larssen.
“We are living on borrowed time. The problem is too overwhelming for bilateral and unilateral efforts alone.”
An IAEA official told the meeting that the agency had recorded 1,562 incidents of missing or stolen nuclear materials since 1993. That might well be only the tip of the iceberg due to suspected under-reporting of the problem, he said.
This was caused, Mowatt-Larssen said, by secrecy arising from “perceived national interests.”
He said Pakistan, grappling with increasing attacks by Islamist militants that U.S. officials say have links to elements of the Pakistani security services, topped the list of countries regarded as the most likely sources of nuclear materials or know-how getting into the hands of terrorists.
“There’s a common belief that it’s too hard for men in caves to build a nuclear weapon,” he said, alluding to al Qaeda. But al Qaeda, he said, has been seeking the bomb for 15 years and its planning was “professional.” (Mark Heinrich/Reuters)
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