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North Korea helping Syria manufacture chemical weapons, reports claim

March 02, 2018 12:55·
BC-US--Iditarod,4th Ld-Writethru, US

BC-US--Iditarod,4th Ld-Writethru, US

The monitors said they had investigated ongoing ballistic missile cooperation between Syria and Myanmar, including more than 40 previously unreported North Korea shipments between 2012 and 2017 to Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre, which oversees the country's chemical weapons program.

North Korea has been under stringent United Nations sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs, with the Security Council has scrutinizing the measures in response to Pyongyang's sixth nuclear weapons test and several long-range missile launches.

The U.N. report goes on to claim that the relationship between Kim and Assad as been mutually beneficial, as it has permitted Syria to continue its use of banned chemical weapons while simultaneously providing an influx of funding to Kim Jong Un's nuclear and ballistic weapons programs.

Reports that North Korea is aiding another state in an illicit program do not come as a surprise; the intelligence community has been tracking North Korea's since at least the 1960s, and since 1991, has warned that North Korea would likely use its Middle Eastern to evade sanctions. The country is not a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has identified dozens of incidents of chemical weapons use in Syria, but its mandate does not allow it to determine who carried out the attack.

The shipments allegedly contained acid-resistant tiles - which can be used for activities conducted at high temperatures - of a quantity that would cover the area of a large scale industrial project.

The U.S. draft resolution was discussed by experts from U.N. Security Council missions on Thursday, but diplomats said Russian Federation did not attend.

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Grassley also said he and Ernst have made it clear that a cap on RIN prices or a waiver credit for RINs would not be a win-win solution.

Similarly, the Security Council resolutions condemning the Syria after its August 2013 chemical-weapons attacks on a rebel-held suburb of Damascus.

What is Syria's official position on chemical weapons? Asked to comment on the report, he said, "I think the overarching message is that all member states have a duty and responsibility to abide by the sanctions that are in place".

Syria signed up to the worldwide ban on chemical weapons in 2013, as part of a deal brokered by Moscow to avert U.S. air strikes in retaliation for a nerve gas attack that killed hundreds of people, which Washington blamed on Damascus.

In January, Russia presented its own draft resolution setting up a new panel, but Western powers expressed reservations, saying Moscow's proposal would give the Syrian government an upper hand over any investigation of attacks on its territory.

Why is North Korea's involvement controversial?

FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014.

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