Syria and weapons of mass destruction

Western non-governmental organizations have stated they believe Syria has an active program in chemical weapons. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/syria/index.html Syria Special Weapons Guide] at [http://www.globalsecurity.org globalsecurity.org] , accessed Oct 24, 2007.] [http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Syria/index_2066.html Syria Profile] at the [http://www.nti.org Nuclear Threat Initiative] , accessed Oct 24, 2007.] [http://www2.foi.se/rapp/foir1290.pdf Syria and WMD Incentives and Capabilities] , Syria Magnus Normark, Anders Lindblad, Anders Norqvist, Björn Sandström, Louise Waldenström, Swedish Defense Research Agency report FOI-R--1290--SE, June 2004, ISSN 1650-1942] Syria is one of seven non-signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, [ [http://www.opcw.org/html/db/members_nonsig.html OPCW: States that have neither signed nor acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention] ] though it has denied that it has chemical weapons. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/middle_east/2950321.stm BBC: Syria denounces US 'lies'] ]

Syria is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and maintains a civil nuclear program. In April 2008, the U.S. Government said it was "convinced" that Syria had been building a "covert nuclear reactor" that is "not intended for peaceful purposes," [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/04/20080424-14.html Statement by the Press Secretary] ] though U.S. intelligence officials claimed low confidence that the site was meant for weapons development. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the site in discussion was just "a military site under construction" [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hgqNioVGXjfzPSB-qnEf2bkWg_6A AFP (04/27/2008): Syria president denies building nuclear reactor] ] and that Syria's goal is a nuclear-free Middle East. [Daiji Sadamori, “Assad: Syria Not Seeking to be Nuclear State,” Asahi Shimbun, 27 October 2006] Preliminary IAEA tests have shown nothing to support the allegations of the United States or Israel.cite news|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibbvKrJ2zpXsF5F9tM_rtfLwd8MAD93AM0600|title=Diplomats: Syria passes 1st test of nuclear probe|author=George Jahn|publisher=Associated Press|date=2008-09-20|accessdate=2008-09-21] Syria has said it will voluntarily cooperate with the IAEA further if it isn't "at the expense of disclosing our military sites or causing a threat to our national security."

Chemical

Syria reportedly manufactures Sarin, Tabun, VX, and mustard gas types of chemical weapons. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/syria/cw.htm Syria Chemical Weapons] at [http://www.globalsecurity.org globalsecurity.org] , accessed Oct 24, 2007.]

Syria is not a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, one of seven nations to have rejected the CWC.

While Syria has not publicly admitted to its chemical weapons program, Syrian officials have stated that they feel it appropriate to have some deterrent against Israel's similarly non-admitted nuclear weapons program when questioned about the topic.

Independent assessments indicate that Syrian production could be up to a combined total of a few hundred tons of chemical agent per year.

Facilities

Syrian chemical weapons production facilities have been identified by Western nonproliferation experts at approximately 5 sites, plus one suspected weapons base: [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/syria/facility.htm Special Weapons Facilities] at [http://www.globalsecurity.org globalsecurity.org] , accessed Oct 24, 2007.]
* Al Safir (Scud missile base)
* Cerin
* Hama
* Homs
* Latakia
* Palmyra

2007 explosion

In July 2007, a Syrian arms depot exploded, killing at least 15 Syrians. Jane's Defence Weekly, a U.S. magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, believed that the explosion happened when Iranian and Syrian military personnel attempted to fit a Scud missile with a mustard gas warhead. Syria stated that the blast was accidental and not chemical related. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20071021/ai_n21061036 "The Sunday Herald": HOW CLOSE WERE WE TO A THIRD WORLD WAR? What really happened when] ]

Biological

The site at Cerin is also associated with a potential biological weapons research or production lab. Few details are publicly known.

Nuclear

Open nuclear programs

Syria is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has repeatedly attempted to purchase small research type nuclear reactors from China, Russia, Argentina, or other countries. Despite these purchases being openly disclosed and IAEA monitored, international pressure has caused all these reactor purchases to be cancelled. Syria has open and IAEA monitored nuclear research programs including a Chinese made non-reactor miniature neutron source. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/syria/nuke.htm Syria - Nuclear Weapons Programs] at [http://www.globalsecurity.org globalsecurity.org] , accessed Oct 24, 2007.]

Alleged weapons program

Bombing of site

On September 6, 2007, Israel bombed an officially unidentified site in Syria which it asserted had been a nuclear reactor under construction. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/070906-airstrike.htm 06 September 2007 Air strike] at [http://www.globalsecurity.org globalsecurity.org] , accessed Oct 24, 2007.] The alleged nuclear reactor was not yet operational and no nuclear material had been introduced into it. [ [http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressRelease/2008/prn200806.html IAEA: Statement by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei regarding Syria] ] Top U.S. intelligence officials claimed low confidence that the site was meant for weapons development, noting that there was no reprocessing facility at the site.

Press reports [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202430.html N. Korea, Syria May Be at Work on Nuclear Facility] , Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Thursday, September 13, 2007; Page A12] asserted that the Israeli air strike followed a shipment delivery to Syria by a North Korean freighter, and that North Korea was suspected to be supplying a reactor to Syria for a nuclear weapons program.

On October 24, 2007 the Institute for Science and International Security released a report [http://www.isis-online.org/publications/SuspectSite_24October2007.pdf SUSPECT REACTOR CONSTRUCTION SITE IN EASTERN SYRIA: THE SITE OF THE SEPTEMBER 6 ISRAELI RAID?] , David Albright and Paul Brannan, October 23, 2007] which identified a site next to the Euphrates River in eastern Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate province, about 11 kilometers north of the village of At Tibnah, at coord|35|42|27.05|N|39|49|58.83|E ), as the suspected reactor. The report stated that the building appeared to match the external structure of the North Korean 5 megawatt reactor at Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, but that it was too early to make a definitive comparison. The site is also reportedly surrounded by a security barrier and hidden within a small side canyon off the main river valley.Fact|date=April 2008

Google Earth imagery taken in 2007 shows the main building believed to be the reactor building, but additional construction at the site is visible in the later images used by ISIS. Press reports asserted that as of October 25, 2007, the main building and any debris from it following the air strike had been completely dismantled and removed by the Syrians. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/world/middleeast/26syria.html?hp Photos Show Cleansing of Suspect Syrian Site] , William J. Broad and Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, accessed Oct 25, 2007.] After refusing to comment on the reports for six months, the White House briefed Congress and the IAEA on April 24, 2008, saying that the U.S. Government was "convinced" that Syria had been building a "covert nuclear reactor" that was "not intended for peaceful purposes." [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/04/20080424-14.html Statement by the Press Secretary] ] The briefing included releases of satellite photographs of the destroyed reactor and overhead and ground level intelligence photographs of the reactor under construction, including the reactor vessel steel shell before concrete was poured and of the reactor head structure. [ [http://cryptome.org/syrian/syrian-site.htm Cryptome: Syrian Alleged and North Korean Reactor Photos] ]

Reaction to Israeli strike

Joseph Cirincione, an expert on nuclear proliferation and head of the Washington-based Ploughshares Fund, commented "we should learn first from the past and be very cautious about any intelligence from the US about other country's weapons." [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/25/usa.nuclear?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront "The Guardian": US claims North Korea helped build Syria reactor plant] ] Syria has denounced "the fabrication and forging of facts" in regards to the incident. [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/25/content_8050478.htm Syria rejects U.S. allegations on existence of nuclear activities] ]

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei criticized the strikes and deplored that information regarding the matter had not been shared with his agency earlier. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/978043.html IAEA slams U.S. for withholding data on alleged Syrian nuclear reactor] ] Syria has agreed to let the International Atomic Energy Agency investigate the site. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,361362,00.html Syria to Allow IAEA Probe of Nuclear Allegations] ] Syria has declined to let the IAEA visit other military sites the United States recently made allegations about, arguing it fears that too much openness on its part would encourage the U.S. to push for years of relentless international scrutiny. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362782,00.html Diplomats: Syria to Block IAEA From Probing Suspected Nuclear Sites] ] Syria has said it will voluntarily cooperate with the IAEA further if it isn't "at the expense of disclosing our military sites or causing a threat to our national security." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7652104.stm "BBC": Syria rebuffs nuclear inspectors] ]

The Non-Aligned Movement has called for the establishment of a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East and called for a comprehensive multilaterally negotiated instrument which prohibits threats of attacks on nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. [ [http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/2008/infcirc733.pdf XV Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (July 2008): Statement on the Islamic Republic of Iran's Nuclear Issue] ] The Gulf Cooperation Council has also appealed for a nuclear weapons free Middle East and recognition of the right of a country to expertise in the field of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. [ [http://library.gcc-sg.org/English/Books/sessions/cs027.html The Closing Statement Of the Twenty-Seventh Session of the Supreme Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (December 2006)] ] The IAEA has also approved a resolution urging all Middle East nations to renounce atomic bombs. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/10/04/africa/OUKWD-UK-NUCLEAR-IAEA-ISRAEL.php "International Herald Tribune": IAEA calls for non-nuclear Mideast in heated vote] ]

Syria says the U.S. has used "twisted logic" to pressure it. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7638499.stm "BBC": Shooting delays UN Syria inquiry] ] Preliminary IAEA tests have shown nothing to support the allegations of the United States or Israel. IAEA Director General ElBaradei has shown dissatisfaction with the United States and Israel for only providing the IAEA with photos of the bombed facility in Syria, and has said the IAEA's work should not be guided by political intentions. [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/26/content_10116966.htm "Xinhua News": "IAEA chief: Report on Syrian nuclear plans needs more time"] ]

Delivery systems

In addition to potential aircraft and artillery delivery systems, Syria has several hundred Scud model B, C, and D missiles, and perhaps a thousand SS-21 missiles.

References

External links

* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/syria/index.html Syria Special Weapons Guide] at [http://www.globalsecurity.org globalsecurity.org]
* [http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Syria/index_2066.html Syria Profile] at [http://www.nti.org Nuclear Threat Initiative]