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Report: North Korea sells Egypt 24 medium-range missiles
World Tribune ^
| 11/27/01
Posted on 11/27/2001 1:19:08 PM PST by truthandlife
North Korea concluded an agreement to sell 24 No-Dong medium-range missiles to Egypt according to published reports.
The accord was signed earlier this year. The South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo said the sale will include both missiles and related technology.
South Korean diplomatic sources confirmed reports of a missile deal between Pyongyang and Cairo. U.S. defense sources said a previous North Korean deal to sell 50 No-Dong missile engines to Egypt was stopped by Washington, Middle East Newsline reported.
"North Korea concluded the transaction secretly with Egypt earlier this year," JoongAng Ilbo quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
The newspaper identified the North Korean missile as the Rodong, named after the town where the medium-range weapon is being produced. The No-Dong has a range of at least 1,000 kilometers.
U.S. officials said Washington and Seoul agree regarding most of the details of North Korean sales to Egypt and other Middle East clients. They said the Egyptian-North Korean agreement might be on the administration agenda during the visit of Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher to Washington.
"I would say that we have a close strategic arrangement relationship with Egypt, and we regularly discuss a wide range of security issues, including nonproliferation," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
Nonproliferation, I would say, is a frequent topic of discussion with the Egyptians, so I wouldn't be surprised for it to come up."
Earlier this year, Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed with Maher the North Korean offer of No-Dong missiles to Egypt. On Monday, U.S. President George Bush warned Pyongyang of continued exports of missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
For years, Egypt tried to purchase missiles from Europe and the United States. The newspaper said when Egypt's request was rejected Pyongyang was approached. North Korea immediately agreed.
"We believe the North Koreans agreed to sell as many as 24 Rodong missiles to the Egyptian military," the newspaper quoted a fellow at the Korean Institute for Defense Analysis, a military research center in Seoul, as saying.
Earlier this month, North Korea said it wanted to improve relations with Egypt in all fields. Pyongyang is said to be a leading missile supplier to Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria.
The CIA said in a report in September that North Korea continues to supply Scud-based missile components and technology to Egypt. The report did not mention cooperation on the No-Dong.
Israel has expressed concern over the North Korean missile deal with Egypt, the newspaper said. The Israeli Embassy in Seoul said it has expressed its government's concern about the missile sales to Pyeongyang. An Israeli embassy spokesman in Seoul said his government raised the issue with North Korea.
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: armsrace
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator
To: truthandlife
Pakistan already has these missiles in their inventory
3
posted on
11/27/2001 1:24:23 PM PST
by
holman
To: truthandlife
These weapons are getting cheaper, better, easier for nitwits like the North Koreans to make and easier to distribute around the world. No missle-defence technology will ever be 100% or will ever make us 100% safe. But to avoid building a missle-defence system in this world today --- on the grounds that it might not work 100% in every conceivable scenario --- is insanity. There are enough missles out there, and enough whacko-scumbags with their greasy stinking nose-picking fingers on the trigger, to warrant us doing as much as we can to develop and deploy a technology for taking missles out of the sky.
4
posted on
11/27/2001 1:49:10 PM PST
by
samtheman
To: right_to_defend
As long as they won't sell them missiles WITH Dongs, we'll be OK.
"I'll take 24 missles to go... hold the dongs."
5
posted on
11/27/2001 1:50:36 PM PST
by
samtheman
To: truthandlife
If the missiles have such a long range, shouldn't they be called "long dongs"?
6
posted on
11/27/2001 2:15:23 PM PST
by
Nachum
To: truthandlife
Can these missiles be armed with nuclear warheads?
7
posted on
11/27/2001 2:21:05 PM PST
by
Don Myers
To: Don Myers
Can these missiles be armed with nuclear warheads? Makes one wonder why accuracy was not a concern.
To: truthandlife
Once again we have the Clintons to thank for allowing US companys to sell information to North Korea to be used against the US and other nations friendly to Israel. I hope the morons who voted for these idiots feel real safe these days. I know I do knowing North Korea has some of their "no-dong, long dong" missiles aimed at the west coast. Those people ought to be hung. After a fair trial, of course!
9
posted on
11/27/2001 2:25:41 PM PST
by
shellylet
To: All
Come on be happy, that's 24 less missiles North Korea has now!
10
posted on
11/27/2001 2:27:18 PM PST
by
kevin
To: RightWhale
These things have a range of 1,000 kilometers. That is a long way. They would reach Israel if fired from Egypt. And they are good enough to target US Forces in the MidEast.
To: Don Myers
They supposedly have also developed or are in the process of developing a Taepo Dong-2 with the possibility of carrying chemical or biological weapons, which could reach the US. Again, we can thank old Billy Boy.
To: shellylet
Didn't Reagan and Bush Sr. allow US companies to sell anthrax to Iraq? Money talks, b.s. walks, regardless of party affiliation.
13
posted on
11/27/2001 2:48:48 PM PST
by
folly
To: shellylet
"a Taepo Dong-2 with the possibility of carrying chemical or biological weapons, which could reach the US. Again"
I would think that a good-ol' fashioned nuclear warhead would give them more bang for their bucks.
To: Don Myers
Accuracy is measured in CEP. That is the probability it will land within a target area of so many miles radius. If a SCUD lands within 2 miles after flying 200 miles, that is considered a bullseye. Our ABMs have to hit their target within 18 inches. If the target is a suburb or a 1/2 million man army, a miss of 2 miles does little of military significance, even if the warhead is a nuke. It would take several trainloads of such missiles to stop an army, and then the strategic weapons will come into play. They mention CBN, but only the nuke component is of immediate military significance.
To: RightWhale
"If the target is a suburb or a 1/2 million man army, a miss of 2 miles does little of military significance, even if the warhead is a nuke. It would take several trainloads of such missiles to stop an army,"
I would think that nuclear tipped missiles would be more effective than you indicate here.
Comment #17 Removed by Moderator
To: Don Myers
Nukes of the size carried on a SCUD aren't the big jobs. They make a nice boom, but they aren't in the league with what ICBMs carry, even MIRVed ICBMs. It's bigger than the suitcase nukes, which are not much more than a couple of truckbombs worth of boom, but SCUDS are intended to be used in barrage, a lot at one time. A few SCUDS scattered over an area will just make the enemy angry, not stop him. Bad enough the Abrams roll into Baghdad, but with angry tank crews watch out. Plus nobody wants to see Israeli tanks in Baghdad, but if Saddam miscalculates again, that's more than likely.
To: folly
Name your sources please!
To: Don Myers
Either way I don't like them aimed at me!!!
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