Doc's Talk: The Syrian Overseeing WMDs

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

The Syrian Overseeing WMDs

Ronen Solomon on Amr Najib Armanazi, head of the Syrian Agency for Scientific Research responsible for developing and manufacturing Syria's chemical weapons, who enjoys regular vacations in the west and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people

Ronen Solomon

He is 69 years old and in the past few years, he has held a routine family life alongside his work which includes periodical visits to the UK with the wife Houda, to visit the children who studied in London. Their travels included a visit the US capital where the close friends of the family, Imad Mustafa and his wife Manira, reside due to Imad's role as an ambassador.

The fatherly appearance, with white hair and a pleasant smile, would not give away the fact that this person is in charge of his country's production of weapons of mass destruction.

This is Dr. Amr Najib Armanazi, originally a computer engineer, who manages the office of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in the Damascus neighborhood of Barza. Armanazi resides in a private house in one of neighborhoods in Damascus near his work place. He has two sons, Zayd and Bishar and two daughters, Suzanna and Zeina.

Armanazi's last name unveils a history of senior regime officials close to the Assad presidential family for decades. In the 1950s, his father, Najib, served as Syria's ambassador to countries such as India and Egypt, occasionally bringing along both of his sons, Amr and Hayat Armanazi - who would eventually also hold roles within the Syrian state mechanism.
Armanazi's association with Bashar Al-Assad began in the 1990s when Assad managed the Syrian Computer Society (SCS), where Armanazi served as a director on account of being the manager of Syria's top institute for training scientific professions. The institute, which trains Syrian agency engineers for scientific studies, operates with the Syrian Computer Society (SCS) for developing and assimilating computer applications and communication systems for military installations.
Armanazi later became responsible for managing the Syrian Agency for Scientific Research, which is in charge of developing unconventional weapons, including the chemical warheads and those that were intended to be nuclear.
The Syrian Agency for Scientific Research is a vast organization that employs thousands of people working in many departments, and deals in all fields of technology and scientific development that have potential military applications. The departments pertaining to the development of Syria's chemical weapons are concealed under innocent-sounding covers such as the "immunology laboratories" and the laboratories for "environmental research." The special cooling towers, which are typical of facilities for producing chemical weapons, which are found at the agency's facilities, are tied to the complex production process and are involved in the disposal of toxic substances emitted during the production. The main production facility is the Al Safir site in northern Syria. It is at this site that Syria produces Sarin gas and nerve agents such as VX.

Armanazi's standing at this time is equal to that of a senior minister in the Syrian government, due to the scope of the organizations he is responsible for and their national importance. The head of the Syrian Agency for Scientific Research also serves as one of the directors in the steering committee of the senior council for scientific research, alongside the head of the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria.

As of 2001, Amr Armanazi was put in charge as the head of the Technological Branch for Military Targets, as well as the professional contacts with North Korean colleagues in the North Korean national academy for sciences. Amr worked to acquire knowledge and technologies for the Syrian nuclear project being built in the area of Al Kibar, north of Dayr Al-Zawr, and worked towards advancing the cooperation on the topic of missile development. For this purpose, he visited Pyongyang on several occasions, and was even present during the signing of mutual agreements between the countries. He later worked to establish a straw company named "Namchongang Engineering Services" in Damascus, which served as a cover for the activities of North Korea's Scientific Technology Services Center (STSC) in Damascus, for the purpose of support and trade in advanced technological products. These were intended for the shared projects with the Syrian Agency for Scientific Research and Syria's Atomic Energy Commission.

Armanazi participates in many technological conventions, including expert conventions for science and technology, such as those by the UN's Social and Economic Council in Amman and those held in the framework of the Arab Technological School - a Syrian institution that cooperates with academic organizations across the Arab world. During the glory days with Turkey, he even accommodated a Turkish scientific delegation in Aleppo.

His brother, Ghayth, served for several years as the ambassador to the Arab League and head of the Syrian lobby in the UK. Since then, the Armanazi family tends to visit the UK and it included a visit of the daughter, Zeina who studied an MBA degree at the Royal Holloway Institute at the University of London. Since then, she has become a senior manager of Nissan in Syria. Another son, Bishar, studied towards a Bachelors degree in economy and currently works in London as a risk manager at a bank.

His wife, Houda, manages a Facebook page from which it is possible to learn about their circle of friends and her political and security opinions, which are apparently influenced by her husband's mood. In recent statuses, Houda (whose friends claim to be a Facebook addict) commented on the situation in Syria and voted in a survey against international involvement in Syrian and in favor of death penalties for relatives of those fighting the Assad regime. She also expressed her opinion in a survey that the reason for the recent attack against Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut was caused by an absence of measures for detecting bombs.

Most of Armanazi's circle of friends served alongside him in the framework of the institutions of the Agency for Scientific Research where he has been a member for two decades. His close friends include Imad Mustafa, Syria's ambassador to the US who was his deputy in the 1990s and dealt with training employees, and Khaled Al Azam, who was tied to fields linked to the development of chemical weapons.

From the side, the families appear very cultural in the spare time, loving art and refined European tastes, surrounded by a familial atmosphere that contrasts the role that preoccupies them once returning to the agency's offices. Their products are the ones that recently killed hundreds of their own people, including little children. It is difficult to guess how they feel today. However, in the profiles of Armanazi's children, it is difficult to find any traces of photo with the father, except for an edited photo of the daughter Zeina with a comment that "It is not recommended that the hugging man (apparently the father) will show up in my profile picture."

In 2005, the Syrian Agency for Scientific Studies and its branches in Syria (where the chemical warheads are developed and stored) were introduced to the list of organizations dealing with weapons of mass destruction, and in May 2011, international sanctions were imposed on it.

In July 2012, WikiLeaks published its "Syrian files", which included correspondences from Armanazi's email linked to debates and technological cooperation with Dr. Ghassan Assi, Head of the Higher Commission for Scientific Research in Syria, which is responsible for science and technology in the government.

Amr Armanazi's name was introduced to the listing of the people sanctioned for dealing with the development of WMDs only in September 2012, apparently due to the initial reports on the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime. As Director of the Syrian Agency for Scientific Research, Armanazi, it was stated, was responsible for the facility for developing and manufacturing Sarin gas. The same gas was loaded last week onto rockets that were dropped on a rebel-controlled suburb of Damascus, and contained "a cocktail of Sarin gas and several other components", causing the death of approximately 1,500 residents, among them entire families.

In February 27, the US State Department Secretary for Review of Weapons and International Security issued an executive order instructing that Amr Armanazi's assets be foreclosed. According to the order, the State Department, upon consulting with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General, determined that Armanazi engaged, or attempted to engage in activities or transactions that materially contributed to, or posed a risk of materially contributing to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery (including missiles capable of delivering such weapons).

At a press conference on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry clarified that the evidence from Damascus presents a clear and shocking picture of the use of chemical weapons against civilians. Kerry said that "This is unforgivable", and that "those who were behind this must bear the responsibility."

Armanazi's office is located in the central complex of the Agency, in the Barza neighborhood north of Damascus near Mount Qasioun. The complex includes warehouses for storing chemical weapons, a technological institute for training the agency's engineering and the agency's HQ. The secure complex is considered by every Syrian as one of the regime's unmistakable symbols in developing chemical weapons, and as such, is listed as a target (among many) which may be attacked as soon as this Thursday.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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