Bioweaponry a concern

Chinese spies said to target

genetic engineering secrets

China is suspected of conducting industrial espionage against Icelandic firms in the areas of DNA decoding and medical research, according to a leaked State Department cable.

 

"It is believed that the Chinese are conducting industrial espionage in the areas of DNA

decoding and medical research in Iceland," wrote Ambassador

Carol Van Voorst in a 2009 report published on the Wikileaks site.

 

Over the past couple of decades, there has been a growing number of scholarly reports that speak of China’s beefed up prowess in economic espionage, according to experts.

 

Genetic engineering has become an area of ferocious competition, with private sector firms and governments alike hungry for the latest developments. Such knowledge is important for medical breakthroughs on the one hand and for research into biological weapons of mass destruction on the other.

 

Espionage on recombinant DNA research would not only give China advantages in the international pharmaceutical market but also, potentially, additions to its military arsenal. China's military modernization has become increasingly worrisome to policymakers.

 

(Cable is below.)

 

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Commentary

The Arizona shooter reportedly told a surprised college class that 6 and 18 are the same number. This is likely a reference to the fact that 18 = 6+6+6, which is a form of the demonic number much favored by adolescents and horror movies. So should we advocate curtailment of horror films on grounds that the disturbed might be incited? Or, maybe we should urge that the Bible, where the number is mentioned in the Book of Revelation, be removed from bookshelves...

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09REYKJAVIK41 2009-02-26 15:03 2011-01-13 05:05 SECRET//NOFORN Embassy Reykjavik

 

R 261501Z FEB 09 ZDK

FM AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK

TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3993

INFO CIA WASHDC

DIA WASHDC

FBI WASHINGTON DC

 

S E C R E T REYKJAVIK 000041

 

 

NOFORN

 

DEPT FOR DS/TIA/ITA AND DS/IP/EUR AND EUR/NB

 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2019

TAGS: ASEC PTER

SUBJECT: REYKJAVIK SEPQ RESPONSE - SPRING 2009

 

REF: STATE 13023

 

Classified By: RSO JON MOODY FOR REASONS 1.4 (C) AND (D)

 

------------------

POLITICAL VIOLENCE

------------------

 

¶I.  (C) Demonstrations

 

¶A.  (C) There is a religious community of Muslims, some of

whom might harbor anti-American sentiments.  The community

numbers approximately 800 individuals and is comprised mostly

of European Muslims.  In the past 12 months there have been

no known anti-American demonstrations led by the Muslim

community.

 

i.  (SBU) Yes, there have been two anti-American

demonstrations in the past 12 months.

 

ii.  (SBU) Both demonstrations occurred in front of the

Chancery and CMR.  (NOTE: The Chancery and CMR are co-located

at 21 and 23 Laufasvegur. END NOTE)

 

iii.  (SBU) One demonstration drew 30-40 protesters.

Approximately 400 demonstrators participated in the second

demonstration.

 

iv.  (SBU) The two anti-American protests in this SEPQ period

occurred in December 2008 and January 2009.  Both were

related to Israeli military action in Gaza.

 

¶B.  (SBU) Demonstrations are generally peaceful.

 

i.  (SBU) There have been no violent demonstrations resulting

in damage or loss of USG property.

 

ii.  (SBU) No demonstrations have penetrated our perimeter

security.

 

¶C.  (SBU) There has been a dramatic increase in

demonstrations against the Icelandic government since Post's

last SEPQ response.  The primary cause is the current

domestic economic crisis.  Demonstrations have also been

organized to protest military action, environmental issues,

salary/benefit disputes, soaring gas prices, and a NATO

conference.

 

i.  (SBU) The majority of demonstrations occur in front of

the Prime Minister's office (approximately 700 meters from

the Embassy) and the Althingi Parliament Building

(approximately 550 meters from the Embassy).  Since Post,s

last SEPQ response there have been approximately 57

demonstrations against the Government of Iceland.   Most were

peaceful, some were heated, and a small number of protesters

were arrested.  Several police officers were injured by

throwing rocks, none seriously.

 

ii.  (SBU) The anti-government protests were huge compared to

previously seen protests.  Since October Saturday

demonstrations have drawn between 3000-4000 participants.

The largest gathering was estimated at 10000 demonstrators

(approximately 3 percent of Iceland's population).

Non-economic protests were usually drew 30-50 persons (one

protest had 1 participant - an anti-NATO demonstrator man

banging a gong outside the Hilton.  He was issued a traffic

citation for parking illegally.)

 

iii.  (C) All demonstrations have been peaceful, to date.

The protests regarding the economic crisis have occasionally

become heated resulting in minor injuries and  arrests.  None

got out of hand and most of the damage and injuries were

caused by a small group of miscreants well-known to the

police and rumored to be in a  turf war, with the police.

 

iv.  (SBU) No demonstrations have resulted in damage to USG

property.

 

II  (SBU) Macro Conflict Conditions

 

¶A.  (SBU) Iceland is not involved in an interstate or

intrastate conflict.

 

¶B.  (SBU) Iceland is not involved in an intrastate conflict.

 

¶C.  (SBU) Iceland is not involved in an interstate or

intrastate conflict.  The only US diplomatic mission is in

Reykjavik.

 

 

¶D.  (SBU) Iceland is not involved in an intrastate conflict.

 

III.  (S/NF) Host Country Capabilities

 

¶A.  (C) The police (Logreglan) are well-trained and

professional.  All police attend the national police academy

with a comprehensive curriculum.  The  current number of

police officers in Iceland is 780 (1 police officer for every

409 citizens).  A newspaper article on 12 February 2009

claims the Metropolitan Police (Reykjavik) is in dire

financial straits.  Costs relating to the demonstrations are

piling up with no funds to cover them in the budget.  The

Police Commissioner is fearful that police officer positions

will be cut to offset those expenses.  Such a cut will be

detrimental to a police force that has only 20-25 officers on

patrol during any shift.

 

¶B.  (SBU) Icelandic police have been trained by US agencies

in various areas including customs/border/port security,

cyber security and computer crimes, hostage negotiation,

crisis management, and several others.  The training has been

effective.  The RSO notes evidence of the training in his

interactions with the police.  There has been no training

since Post,s last SEPQ response.

 

¶C.  (C) No evidence of corruption has been observed or

uncovered.

 

¶D.  (S/NF) Iceland does not have an intelligence service.

The National Security Unit (NSU) within the National

Commissioner's Office handles threat information analysis.

The NSU is comprised of three individuals.  The NSU is too

small to undertake any type of intelligence gathering role

and responds to threats as they arise, such as threats

against Icelandic officials, demonstrations/protests, and

"extremist" groups.  The NSU is not a tradecraft or covert

group.  There are no terrorism-related examples, but the

NSU's investigative and analytical capabilities have been

demonstrated through operations in varying fields of law

enforcement such as organized crime (OC), counterintelligence

(CI), and counter-narcotics (CN).  GRPO maintains liaison

with the NSU.

 

¶E.  (SBU) Law enforcement agencies, including the NSU, have

been very cooperative with US Embassy requests for

information and support.

 

¶F.  (U) N/A

 

¶G.  (SBU) All planned requests for support were fully

completed in a timely and thorough manner.  All impromptu

requests for support were responded to within minutes.

 

¶H.  (C) The overall assessment of security at the major

airport in Iceland is excellent.  Screening is comparable to

US standards and perimeter security is well-organized and

implemented.  There are direct flights into and out of the

US.  The Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) is

closely involved with the security requirements/standards at

Keflavik International Airport (KEF).  The Keflavik Airport

Authority changed hands on 1 January 2009.  Security

responsibilities are now handled by a private limited company

owned by the government.  The current Director of Security

was the Acting Airport Managing Director prior to the change.

 

¶I.  (C) The customs and immigration controls at KEF are

effective.  The Sudurnes Police District, the district

responsible for the airport, has a high success rate of

intercepting contraband and suspect travel documents.  The

police monitor passenger manifests prior to aircraft arrival

(Advanced Passenger Information - API) and compare the list

against several databases, including Interpol and Europol.

The police possess a fraudulent document lab at the airport

that deals with the fraudulent travel documents.  Although

the numbers of events and personnel are relatively low, their

effectiveness is high.  As of 1 January 2009, the customs

authority now falls under the Ministry of Finance but is

currently still operationally-controlled by the Sudurnes

Police Commissioner.  This change-over is a work in progress.

Eventually the Commissioner will have no responsibility or

oversight of Customs at Keflavik.

 

¶J.  (C) Border patrol forces are effective.  Police and

customs interdict narcotics on a somewhat regular basis.  The

police do recognize the possibility that their borders could

be infiltrated by rogue individuals using small seacraft and

thus rely upon the Icelandic Coast Guard (ICG) for patrolling

the waters.  The ICG has made severe cuts to their personnel

and have limited their activities to rescue operations and

training necessary to maintain proficiency operating their

helicopters, aircraft and vessels.

 

--------------------

INDIGENOUS TERRORISM

--------------------

 

¶I.  (C) Anti-American Terrorist Groups

 

¶A.  (C) There are no known indigenous anti-American terrorist

groups.

 

¶B.  (U) N/A

 

¶C.  (U) N/A

 

¶D.  (U) N/A

 

¶E.  (U) N/A

 

¶F.  (U) N/A

 

¶G.  (U) N/A

 

II.  (C) Other Indigenous Terrorist Groups

 

¶A.  (C) There are no known other indigenous terrorist groups

in Iceland.

 

¶B.  (U) N/A

 

¶C.  (U) N/A

 

¶D.  (U) N/A

 

-----------------------

TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISM

-----------------------

 

¶I.  (S/NF)  Transnational Terrorism Indicators

 

¶A.  (C) There are no known foreign terrorist groups in

Iceland.

 

¶B.  (U) N/A

 

¶C.  (C) The host government is not sympathetic to foreign

terrorism groups in general.

 

¶D.  (C) Within the Muslim community and others outside the

Muslim community, there might be a small number that support

the actions of terrorism groups against the US.  The numbers

or make-up of possible supporters are not known.  Any support

to foreign terrorism groups is not overt.

 

¶E.  (S/NF) The Russians and Chinese have established

diplomatic missions in Reykjavik.  There are no indications

that these two countries are actively pursuing intelligence

operations against the USG.  It is believed that the Chinese

are conducting industrial espionage in the areas of DNA

decoding and medical research in Iceland.

 

¶F.  (S/NF) There are no indications of hostile intelligence

services in Iceland with the intent or aim to conduct

potential anti-American attacks.  (NOTE: Iran, Iraq, Syria,

Serbia, Sudan, etc. do not have diplomatic missions in

Iceland.  The 14 declared, diplomatic missions in Iceland are

the US, Danish, Swedish, French, German, Indian, British,

Chinese, Russian, Polish, Canadian, Finnish, Japanese, and

Norwegian.  END NOTE)

 

¶G.  (S) There are no indications that weapons or explosives

are readily available to potential hostile terrorist

elements.  There are approximately 52,000 firearms registered

with the National Commissioner,s Office.

 

 

van Voorst