But nobody, the government now says, thought to mention Sandline's activities, or the investigation, to a foreign secretary known throughout his department for having put control of arms sales at the centre of his newly ethical foreign policy.

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Rose Gottemoeller is Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security and Assistant Secretary for Verification and Compliance at the Department of State.

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At the time, he spoke in his role as chief scientific officer and senior adviser to the Proliferation and Arms Control Secretariat of the Ministry of Defence, and the Non-proliferation Department of the Foreign Office.

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