Posted on 04/06/2002 7:36:07 AM PST by maquiladora
Senior US Security Sources:
Syria's Main Missile and Chemical Weapons Facility at Homs Blown up in Mysterious Explosions on March 24.
North Koreans Among Tens of Engineers and Technicians Killed in Underground Plant.
Factory Manufactured Scud-C and Scud-D, Liquid and Solid Fuels, Chemical Warheads, Oxidizers.
Syrians Suspect Israeli Undercover Saboteurs Struck in Reprisal for Syrian Military Intelligence Aid in Terrorist Hit against Galilee Highway on March 12 - Or US Reprisal for Free al Qaeda Transit through Syria.
Israeli Air Force Chief Halutz: Odds on Second Front Opening up in North Higher than Contemplated Few Months Back.
Continuing Shelling and Rocket Attacks from Lebanon Prompt Heavy Israeli Troop Buildup on Northern Frontier and High State of Preparedness.
DEBKAfile Reports Early Saturday Rocket Barrage against Kibbutz Kfar Giladi and Shaaba Farms - Blacked Out by Israeli Official Spokesmen to Ease Rising Border Tension.
DEBKAfile's Security Sources: Hizballah Partnered in Latest Attacks by al Qaeda Elements and Hardline PFLP-GC Militants.
The Syrian fertilizers plant under construction at Homs [34° 40' N 36° 40' E] is ownded and operated by the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria. The facility will engage in Uranium recovery from phosphates using the D2EHPA-TOPO process.
I've read a few stories about this lately. It is my understanding that several missile and/or weapons facilities have been blowing up in the mid east lately. Bummer!! Whether it's due to somebody's special forces or actual accidents, I say good riddance.
Already seen here in the World Tribune.
I Wonder Why They Capitalize Every Word In Their Sentences?
In releasing the funding, President George W Bush waived the Framework's requirement that North Korea allow inspectors to ensure it has not hidden away any weapons-grade plutonium from the original reactors.
President Bush argued that the decision was "vital to the national security interests of the United States".
Deal under threat
North Korea has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the agreement in recent weeks.
The row has heightened tensions on the peninsula
It has been angered by President Bush's accusation that Pyongyang was part of an "axis of evil" producing weapons of mass destruction.
This annoyance was compounded by Washington's decision to withhold this year's certification that North Korea is keeping its side of the Agreed Framework.
It has systematically refused to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into its nuclear facility at the Yongbyon research base north of the capital.
Delayed
Pyongyang has justified its refusals by pointing out that the reactors are way behind schedule.
They were originally expected to have been completed next year, but now construction is not expected to even begin until August.
Another issue is the different interpretations of the inspections' timing.
According to the Framework, North Korea should be fully compliant with IAEA safeguards when "a significant proportion" of the project is completed.
The builders say that will be around May 2005, and given the inspections will take at least three years, this means that North Korea should start admitting inspectors now.
But Pyongyang believes that they should only allow the inspections to start, rather than finish, by that date.
The head of the Non-proliferation Policy Education Centre in Washington, a critic of the Agreed Framework, has warned that even when the new reactors are completed they may not be tamper-proof.
"These reactors are like all reactors, They have the potential to make weapons. So you might end up supplying the worst nuclear violator with the means to acquire the very weapons we're trying to prevent it acquiring," Henry Sokolski told the Far Eastern Economic Review.
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
“North Koreans Among Tens of Engineers and Technicians Killed in Underground Plant.”
No! Not the Norks! Those, poor, innocent Norks!/s(guffaw)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.