Report: Blast at Syrian military site result of chemical arms test - Haaretz

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Last update - 18:48 19/09/2007

Report: Blast at Syrian military site result of chemical arms test

By The Associated Press

A Syrian military installation rocked by an explosion in July was being used to develop chemical weapons, and Iranian engineers were among those killed, a respected defense publication reported Wednesday.

Jane's Defence Weekly said the blast hit the site of a joint Iranian/Syrian project to fit short-range ballistic missiles with chemical warheads.

The July 26 explosion struck a military complex outside the city of Aleppo, killing at least 15 soldiers and wounding 50 others, according to Syria's state news agency, SANA. The agency said the blast was caused when high summer temperatures set off high-explosive materials at a weapons depot.

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But Jane's cited Syrian defense sources as saying the explosion took place during a test to fit a Scud C missile with a mustard-gas warhead. It quoted the sources as saying the explosion occurred when fuel caught fire in the missile production laboratory.

The blast dispersed chemical agents (including VX and Sarin nerve agents and mustard blister agent) across the storage facility and outside, the publication quoted the sources as saying.

The magazine said that, in addition to the 15 Syrian troops, dozens of Iranian weapons engineers were killed.

Jane's, based in southern England, said the chemical weapons program was part of a strategic co-operation accord signed between Syria and Iran in November 2005.

The magazine quoted Syrian opposition sources as backing up the claim that Iranians were at the site. They said vehicles destined for car-bomb attacks in Iraq were prepared at the same military camp under the supervision of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Syrian intelligence services.

For more on the chemical explosion in Syria, watch Haaretz.com TV

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1.	Punishment for WMD	19:02	\|	Brod	19/09/07

2.	Armed and Dangerous	19:43	\|	Jeroen de Jager	19/09/07

3.	MAYBE SOME IAF F-15s WERE "VIOLATING"	20:50	\|	Robert	19/09/07

4.	Yellow Cake and Nukes	20:53	\|	Realist	19/09/07

5.	Somebody tell Shimon Peres and Olmert?	21:13	\|	Polybios	19/09/07

6.	chemicals	22:10	\|	Paul	19/09/07

7.	Should the US bomb the complex?	22:45	\|	Murray of Montreal	19/09/07

8.	A pity that this will remain unknown in Europe	23:18	\|	earthling	19/09/07

9.	WHY WE ARE WORRIED	23:52	\|	TOBIA	19/09/07

10.	Al-Safir	00:00	\|	Chris	20/09/07

11.	dozens of Iranian weapons engineers were killed	00:20	\|	akiva	20/09/07

12.	GOD ALMIGHTY DELIVERED A MESSAGE (FROM THE JEWS) TO SYRIA-IRAN)))	00:25	\|	VOICE of MOSHIACH)))	20/09/07

13.	More work accidents	00:47	\|	sabra	20/09/07

14.	...And the point is?	00:47	\|	Tony Anthony	20/09/07

15.	Syrian defence sources?	01:21	\|	Mark Lincoln	20/09/07

16.	never mind what the lib`s said	01:24	\|	Harry	20/09/07

17.	Earthing - with a geography deficit syndrome	02:42	\|	Mark Lincoln	20/09/07

18.	Irony in Action	04:01	\|	Efox	20/09/07

19.	Syria`s `Leader` Leads Syria to Annihilation	19:27	\|	Solon	20/09/07

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