[Fedora]

Thanks! That'd make sense, and would fit with some RUMINT I heard. Egypt and Syria had a technology-sharing program with North Korea going back to 1973, IIRC. It sounds like what's being described here is an outgrowth of that.

Evidence Is Cited Linking Koreans to Libya Uranium

"The North Koreans have been selling missiles for years to many countries," one senior Bush administration official said recently, referring to the country's well-known sales to Iran, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and other nations. "Now, we have to look at their trading network in a very different context, to see if something much worse was happening as well."

[piasa]

N. Korea Missile Techie Defector Reveals His Clandestine Biz Trips to a "Mideast Country"