Syria reportedly stepping up production of chemical weapons

Syria has stepped up production of its chemical weapons recently, according to a lengthy article featured in the latest edition of Jane's defense news Web site.

Photos shown on the Web site of a DigitalGlobe's WorldView-1 satellite between 2005-2008 illustrate defining features of a chemical weapons facility.

According to the article, the Al Safir facility in northwest Syria shows "significant levels of construction," including a production plant and an adjacent missile base.

The article concludes that international diplomacy aimed at curbing weapons of mass destruction has failed.

The Israel Air Force allegedly attacked a site in Syria in September 2007, which Washington said was a suspected nuclear reactor built with North Korea's help.

Syria maintains the site, which satellite images showed was later razed, was a military installation and not a nuclear facility.