The Jerusalem Post reports extensive
contruction of a chemical weapons plant in northwest Syria according to satellite images taken by several commercial sources between 2005 to 2008 and citing a Jane's defense analyst group report:
The images of a chemical weapons facility identified as al-Safir.... obtained by DigitalGlobe's WorldView-1 satellite shows that
extensive construction has taken place at the facility, as well as at an
adjacent missile base, the group wrote. In addition, the images showed that the site contained a number of the "defining features of a chemical weapons facility."
Al-Safir is home to a chemical weapons production facility and a missile
base that holds a significant part of Syria's long-range Scud D ballistic
missiles, according to foreign reports. The Scud D has a range of 700 kilometers and al-Safir is reported to have several dozen underground
fortified bunkers where the launchers and the missiles are stored.
The
Jane's defense analyst group report notes:
Iraq became the 186th country to become a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention on 14 January. This may assuage regional concerns over unconventional weapons, but developments elsewhere in the Middle East suggest prevention of chemical weapons development is failing.
