Satellites identify apparent CW site in Syria
Thursday, February 19, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
LONDON Syria is constructing what appears to be a chemical weapons facility near Turkey.
Imagery from DigitalGlobes WorldView-1 satellite and GeoEyes IKONOS satellite has shown the construction of what appears to be a CW facility in northwestern Syria, Jane's Intelligence Review reported. The facility is located next to a missile site that deploys the medium-range Scud D ballistic missile.
"The site contains not only a number of the defining features of a chemical weapons facility, but also that significant levels of construction have taken place at the facility's production plant and adjacent missile base," Jane's reported.
In a Feb. 18 statement, Jane's said it had analyzed the imagery to track the construction of the Syrian CW site from 2005 through 2008. The magazine said it was certain that the facility in Al Safir was a military rather than a pharmaceutical plant.
"One of the clearest indicators that Al Safir is a military facility as opposed to a civilian industrial complex is the level of defenses protecting the site," Jane's said. "The facility is accessed only through a military checkpoint and each element within the facility has an additional security point."
Syria has long wielded a CW arsenal as well as a biological warfare capability. But analysts said Al Safir marked the largest CW facility in Syria and appeared meant to deter any Israeli strike.
"Construction at the Al Safir facility appears to be the most significant chemical weapons production, storage and weaponization site in Syria," Christian Le Mire, editor of Jane's Intelligence Review, said. "Its presence indicates Syria's desire to develop unconventional weapons either to act as a deterrent to conflict with Israel or as a force enhancer should any conflict ensue."
Le Mire said the satellite imagery suggests that Damascus has sought to expand Al Safir and its chemical weapons arsenal. He said he did not expect an Israeli effort to destroy the facility as it bombed the suspected nuclear weapons center in northeastern Syria in 2007.
"Further expansion of Al Safir is likely to antagonize Israel and highlight mutual mistrust, even as peace talks between the two neighbors progress intermittently," Le Mire said. "Although an Israeli air strike on the facility may not yet be likely, such developments only serve to underline and exacerbate regional tensions."