According to Middle East Newsline, "western intelligence sources said the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has been flying shipments of Scud C and Scud D extended-range missiles as well as WMD components to warehouses in Khartoum since at least January 2004. The sources said the Syrian shipments to Khartoum were placed on civilian airliners but authorized and directed by the Defense Ministry."

The whereabouts of Saddam's WMD and related programs has fueled much speculation and controversy since the end of major combat operations in the coalition war. Most of what Americans were told was based on statements by David Kay, former head of the coalition's search for weapons of mass destruction.

But many of Kay's statements contradict each other.

In a January 27 interview with the New York Times, Kay is said to have "denied any proof that Iraq had moved unconventional weapons to Syria."

"Iraq was totally free of weapons of mass destruction at the beginning of 1999 year, that is to say, four years before launching the U.S. war on Iraq under the pretext of its possession of the said weapons," Kay was quoted as saying in the same article.

But just two days prior to the New York Times article Kay gave an exclusive interview to the UK Telegraph and "claimed that part of Saddam Hussein's secret weapons program was hidden in Syria."

"We are not talking about a large stockpile of weapons," he told the Telegraph. "But we know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD program."

"Precisely what went to Syria, and what has happened to it, is a major issue that needs to be resolved," Kay added.

According to Debka, a mid-east firm that specializes in political analysis, espionage and terrorism security, not only did Kay know that unconventional weapons were being shipped to Syria; he also knew their exact locations.

"U.S. administration and its intelligence agencies, as well as Dr. Kay, were all provided with Syrian maps marked with the coordinates of the secret weapons storage sites," claims Debka.

The information about the site locations came from Nizar Najoef, a Syrian journalist who recently defected from Syria to Western Europe. In a January 5th letter to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Najoef detailed the three sites where he says Iraq's WMD are being kept.

-- "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."

-- "The village of Tal Snan, north of the town of Salamija, where there is a big Syrian air force camp. Vital parts of Iraq's WMD are stored there."

-- "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.

Syria is now coming under increased pressure to end its own WMD programs due to the passage of Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act and other mid-east developments.

"There is widespread concern in the Syrian regime that Damascus will be the next to face heavy U.S. and international pressure to open its WMD facilities in the wake of the Libyan example," a senior intelligence source told Middle East Newsline. "The Syrians have decided that they want to take some of their assets out of the country."

Middle East Newsline was the first to report details concerning the smuggling of missiles and WMD components from Syria to Sudan.

Intelligence sources reportedly told Middle East Newsline that the Sudanese regime of President Omar Bashir was not informed of the Syrian missile and WMD shipments. They said the Syrian material was sent to Khartoum as part of the increased trade relations between the two countries and processed and stored by Sudanese companies.
Jim Hauser Talon News