Official: Syria engaged in possible nuclear talks

Official: Syria engaged
in possible nuclear talks

ROME — A senior U.S. nuclear official said Friday that North Koreans were in Syria and that Damascus may have had contacts with “secret suppliers” to obtain nuclear equipment.

Andrew Semmel, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for nuclear nonproliferation policy, did not identify the suppliers, but said North Koreans were in the country and that he could not exclude that the network run by the disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan may have been involved.

He said it was not known if the contacts had produced any results. “Whether anything transpired remains to be seen,” he said.

Syria has never commented publicly on its nuclear program. It has a small research nuclear reactor, as do several other countries in the region, including Egypt. While Israel and the U.S. have expressed concerns in the past, Damascus has not been known to make a serious push to develop a nuclear energy or weapons program.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment on Semmel’s remarks but noted that the United States had long-standing concerns about North Korea and nuclear proliferation.

Contraband underwear
found on two detainees

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Guards at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp found two prisoners sporting unauthorized underwear, and the U.S. military is investigating to determine how they got the contraband.

Both prisoners were caught wearing Under Armour briefs, and one also had on a Speedo bathing suit, items the military said were not issued by Guantanamo personnel or sent through the regular mail, according to a Defense Department letter obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

Army Lt. Col. Ed Bush, a spokesman at the jail holding some 340 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban, said more was involved than just an uproar over skivvies.

He said the appearance of contraband raised serious concerns about the potential for smuggling other items that could be used by detainees to harm themselves or staff.

“There is no room for error when working in a dangerous environment, and constant vigilance is of the utmost importance,” Bush said.

Airplanes collide in
3rd crash in 4 days

RENO, Nev. — Two airplanes collided Friday at the Reno National Championship Air Races, killing one pilot and injuring another in the third fatal crash at the event in four days.

Five-time defending champion Gary Hubler, 51, of Caldwell, Idaho, was killed in the crash shortly after 9:30 a.m. at Stead Airport just north of Reno, race officials said.

It was the 18th fatality in the 44-year history of the air races and caused the suspension of the competition for the day, but race officials said it would resume today as scheduled.

The pilot of the other plane in Friday’s crash was identified as Jason Somes of Simi Valley, Calif. He was taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life threatening. A friend said he had an eye injury.

Hubler’s plane apparently clipped the back of Somes’ plane before crashing. Somes was able to land his damaged aircraft, race officials said.

Cattle test positive for
foot-and-mouth disease

LONDON — The government confirmed Friday that cattle slaughtered on a farm in southern England tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease.

The disease was detected Wednesday in cattle grazing in Surrey county, 10 miles from laboratories linked to an outbreak last month, said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Some 40 cattle and 800 pigs on the farm were slaughtered Thursday, according to Steven Ward, the owner’s son.

Scientists were trying to determine whether the disease could have spread outside a six-mile containment zone set up around the farm, which includes Heathrow Airport and Queen Elizabeth II’s Windsor Castle.

FDA official warns
of possible layoffs

WASHINGTON — The head of the Food and Drug Administration alerted the agency’s employees Friday that 2,000 of them could get layoff notices as early as next week if Congress fails to renew user fees for drugs and medical devices.

FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach sent an agency-wide memo to staff at the end of the workday. He said he was confident that lawmakers would renew user fees that help fund the agency’s work, but he also wanted them to know that a consequence of not renewing the fees would be a reduction-in-force notice.

Associated Press