A Senior Syrian Journalist Reports Iraq’s WMD Located in Three Syrian Sites

Debkafile ^ | January 5, 2004 | Unattributed

[quidnunc]

Nizar Najoef, a Syrian journalist who recently defected from Syria to Western Europe and is known for bravely challenging the Syrian regime, said in a letter Monday, January 5, to Dutch newspaper “Di Telegraaf,” that he knows the three sites where Iraq’s WMD are kept. The storage places are:

1. Tunnels dug under the town of al-Baida near the city of Hama in northern Syria. These tunnels are an integral part of an underground factory, built by the North Koreans, for producing Syrian Scud missiles. Iraqi chemical weapons and long-range missiles are stored in these tunnels.

2. The village of Tal Snan, north of the town of Salamija, where there is a big Syrian airforce camp. Vital parts of Iraq’s WMD are stored there.

3. The city of Sjinsjar on the Syrian border with the Lebanon, south of the city Homs.

Najoef writes that the transfer of Iraqi WMD to Syria was organized by the commanders of Saddam Hussein’s Special Republican Guard, including General Shalish, with the help of Assif Shoakat , Bashar Assad’s cousin. Shoakat is the CEO of Bhaha, an import/export company owned by the Assad family.

In February 2003, a month before America’s invasion in Iraq, DEBKAfileand DEBKA-Net-Weekly were the only media to report the movement of Iraqi WMD, the efforts to bring them from Iraq to Syria, and the personal involvement of Bashar Assad and his family in the operation.

Najoef, who has won prizes for journalistic integrity, says he wrote his letter because he has terminal cancer.

[GrandMoM]

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[DarthMaulrulesok]

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting, if true. I wonder exactly how much, (if any) of Saddam's pre-war stockpile of weapons and delivery systems is actually there. Those 3 sites would have to be huge to hold all of it.

[Gumption]

We should immediately get inspectors to search all of Syria except for those three places.

[Chu Gary]

Hi you Syrian guys. Ever seen a bunker buster - come out and watch the fireworks - it'll be a good show!!!

[ElkGroveDan]

Well if its from Debka then it has to be true...

[numberonepal]

We should immediately get inspectors to search all of Syria except for those three places.

Exactly what I was thinking. Now we know where they AIN'T!

[BJungNan]

Well if its from Debka then it has to be true...

Yes, a confirming source would be nice.

[Always A Marine]

Those 3 sites would have to be huge to hold all of it.

Actually, it would take far less space than you might think. Some items are bulky, and I am confident that their movements into Syria were detected by US Elint and Israeli Humint. Israeli penetration of Syria is quite excellent, and I suspect that Jerusalem has a good idea where the goods are. Methinks that the days are numbered for Assad's Baathist regime...

[quidnunc]

ElkGroveDan wrote: Well if its from Debka then it has to be true...

In this instance what Debka says is probably true; it's too easy to check.

Whether what the Syrian juurnalist told the Dutch newspaper is true or not is what's open to question.

[SandRat]

We need confirmation that this is there from a more reliable source (HUMINT preferred with documents and material samples) and hard evidence that it came from Saddam. Release of evidence say sometime in late June of this year would be nice.

Assad would be too scared not to turn it all over and feign ignorance to save face and avoid Saddam's fate.

That way we gut all support for the PLO et. al. from Syria and the Democrat Party at the same time.

[Always A Marine]

Well if its from Debka then it has to be true...

Yes, a confirming source would be nice.

It is a given that any post sourced from Debka will get a dutiful, condescending sneer in this forum. But I think those stock replies miss a very key point...

Debka is a propaganda organ -- not a news source. Its purpose is not to document or to prove anything, but to spread a mixture of information, misinformation and disinformation which serves the purpose of its patron. Sources like Debka provide a useful way to give information (and mis/disinformation) their first light of day. In time the same stories will graduate to mainstream media where they work their magic. Debka is not saying anything that Israel's or our government agencies don't already know to be true, false or (more likely) a combination of both -- or that they don't want disseminated. It serves their purposes to stir the pot. It is easy to confuse the trees with the whole forest; spot and follow the larger indications...

[Embedded Freeper]

That is a good reply Always A Marine.
It is obvious that many WMDs went to Syria and probably a good percentage of the money.
They are shaking in their boots over there while appearing to be strong.

TS

[GeronL]

while appearing to be strong

Actually Assad the Younger appears pretty weak inside their government right now.

[DarthMaulrulesok]

Well, I was thinking that while the wepons themselves (VX, Anthrax, etc,) would probably fit into a 100 or less 55 gallon drums, the delivery systems, (rockets, air bombs, spray tanks, etc) would be fairly bulky. There was also talk of mobile (tractor-trailer) biowar labs, warheads for SCUDS, and so on. IF all of these were evacutated to Syria/Lebannon, you would (I think) need a fair amount of space for it all, or am I not understanding something? (Wouldn't be the first time :))

[Keith in Iowa]

>>Well if its from Debka then it has to be true...

I won't believe it until I see it in the NY Times.

[rusty millet]

Spot-on assessment.

[Puddleglum]

Maybe we could send some James Bond-type guy to these places to check them out. You know, dress him in coveralls and have him say "Maintenance man - got a work order to change the light bulbs" then photograph everything in sight and take soil samples with his shoes.

[EQAndyBuzz]

There are probably negotiations going on between Washington and Damascus right now as to the best way to bring this into the open without Syria taking a public relations hit.

My guess is that some "radical group" selectively picked by Assad will try to "smuggle" the weapons back into Iraq and be caught in the act by an "elite" special forces unit. This will play up the military and GW, absolve Syria of any blame and take out the WMD.

I would assume there will be some negotiations as to the fate of the Golan Heights as well as the Iraqi Baath party loyalists who will be presecuted and put to death in the summertime trials which will be aired live on Fox.

Israel will have a big role in the negotiations in that they are hurting for a peace treaty and as we all know, Syria plays a big role in funding of Palestinian terrorism.

The bet here is that Sharon and Assad will meet sometime later this summer. This has the making of a Nobel Prize for peace, the removal of WMD's from the middle east and Bush's reelection.

The only country that gets hurt in all of this is Saudi Arabia. After reelection, Bush will put it on the table that Saudi Arabia is becoming too unstable and that we will have to open Anwar for drilling and supplement it with a large contract to purchase Iraqi oil.

This will all be a ploy of course because Bin Laden plans on being the next ruler of an Islamist Saudi Arabia. It will be at that point that Bin Laden is killed, the Islamist crusade is finally put to rest and terrorism as we know it will be dead.

Now, how is that for a conspiracy theory?