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Updated October 2007
Chemical Chronology
2000-2002
12 January 2000
Jane's Defence Weekly
publishes a report examining Egypt's strategic position and military
capabilities. The report notes that "Egypt is widely believed to possess
large quantities of chemical weapons."
— Richard Engel, "Egypt:
Reaping Peace Dividend," Jane's Defence Weekly, Vol. 34 (2), 12
January 2000, <http://www.janes.com>.
12 January 2000
The Egyptian Army is assumed to control Egypt's chemical weapons arsenal.
Though Egypt appears to have reduced chemical agent production levels, concerns
remain over the possibility of merging current chemical agents with Egypt's
ballistic missile capability.
— "Egypt: Army Dominates Decision-Making,"
Jane's Defence Weekly, Vol. 34 (2), 12 January 2000,
<http://www.janes.com>.
12 January 2000
The Ministry of
Military Production supervises the National Organization for Military Production
(NOMP), which works closely with the Arab Organization of Industrialization
(AOI). The NOMP manages 16 factories, which are divided into four groups. One of
these groups is the chemical industries consisting of three factories. One of
the three factories is the Heliopolis Company for Chemical Industries, which
manufactures, among other things, ammunition, mines, and NBC protection
equipment.
— Christopher F. Foss, "Egypt: Land Systems Sector at Heart of
Industry Base," Jane's Defence Weekly, Vol. 34 (2), 12 January
2000, <http://www.janes.com>.
27 March 2000
Noting that
suspected possession of WMD is prevalent in the Middle East, Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak believes countries in the region are all "suspicious" of each
other, which presents a barrier to peace in the region.
— John Donnelly,
"Mubarak Hopeful on Israel-Syria Deal," Boston Globe, 27 March 2000, p.
A10, <http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
3 April 2000
U.S.
Secretary of Defense William Cohen meets with his Egyptian counterpart, Defense
Minister Field Marshall Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, to discuss plans to organize
Arab states' defenses against chemical and biological weapons.
— "Cohen
Meets with Egyptian Defense Minister," Agence France Presse, 3 April
2000, <http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
23 October 2000
At
the 55th regular session of the UN General Assembly, member states discuss the
CWC, during which Egypt exercises its right to reply in response to Director
General of the OPCW Jose M. Bustani's communicated desire that all countries
join the Convention. Egypt, according to representative Ahmed Darwish, has not
acceded to the CWC due to Israel's refusal to accede to the NPT. However, Egypt
does adhere to its provisions.
— "U.N. Assembly Adopts Resolution to Further
Cooperation with Council of Europe; Also Takes Up Cooperation with Organization
for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons," M2 Presswire, 23 October 2000,
<http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
November 2000
The
suggestion that Israel poses a CW threat to Egypt is dismissed in an article
published in an official journal of the Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The article also outlines the thinking behind Egyptian
efforts to links ratification of the CWC to Israeli progress on acknowledging
and reducing its nuclear weapons.
— Mouktar El Fayoumi, "The CWC in the
Present Middle-East Environment: An Egyptian Perspective," OPCW
Synthesis, November 2000, pp. 26 to 28.
13 April 2001
Egypt publishes a report, authored by "Mr. Arms Control" Nabil Fahmi, one of
Egypt's senior diplomats, addressing a plan for regional security that includes
the closing down of Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor. The plan also includes
several confidence-building measures, one of which is declarations by countries
in the Middle East promising not to use any WMD.
— "Egypt Still Bothered by
Israeli Nukes," Ha'aretz Daily, 13 April 2001,
<http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
26 September 2001
Egypt
is included in a list of countries suspected of possessing tabun, sarin, soman,
GF, VX, and mustard agents.
— Jim McBeth, "Toxic Weapons: As Old as the
History of War Itself," The Scotsman, 26 September 2001, p. 4,
<http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
11 October 2001
Egyptian
Ambassador to the UN Ahmad Abu-al-Ghayt reiterates Egypt's commitment to nuclear
disarmament and nonproliferation in order to create a Middle East free of WMD.
— "Egypt Urges UN to Place Israel's Nuclear Facilities Under Supervision,"
BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 11 October 2001,
<http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
15 November 2001
Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak states that continued U.S. military aid to Israel could
encourage Arab countries to develop WMD programs. "Israel is in the process of
amassing weapons, and America is supplying it with these weapons," he says.
Later, Egyptian spokesman, Nabil Osman, clarifies that the president's comments
were not meant as a threat to Israel or the United States or as a threat that
Egypt will develop its own WMD. Although Egypt has signed neither the CWC nor
the BWC, Egypt, according to the spokesman, is not interested in developing
these weapons.
— Howard Schneider, "Egypt Cautions US on Aid to Israel; Arab
States May Seek Nonconventional Arms, Mubarak Says," Washington Post, 16
November 2001, p. A20, <http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
November
2001
Iran questions its ratification of the NPT in light of the fact
that there is an arms race in the Middle East and none of its rivals in the
region have ratified the NPT, including nuclear capable Israel and chemical
capable Egypt.
— "Iran's Arms Race," Jane's Foreign Report, 22
November 2001, <http://www.janes.com>.
December 2001
In
a list of "who has what" regarding chemical weapons, Egypt is listed as a
"likely" possessor of a CW program.
— Tamar A. Mehuron, "Weapons of Mass
Destruction," Air Force Magazine, December 2001,
<http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
6 December 2001
In an
interview with the Lebanese newspaper al-Safir, Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak states that Egypt continues to be willing to free the Middle East of
WMD. The region may someday be destroyed by these weapons, he believes, which
could adversely affect U.S. regional interests.
— "Egypt: Mubarak Warns
Against Sharon's Threats, More Violence in Mideast," BBC Monitoring Middle East
- Political, 7 December 2001, <http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
January 2002
According to Middle East analyst Anthony
Cordesman, Egypt has production facilities for mustard and nerve agents. The
sources of the precursors for these agents are unknown, although Cordesman
suggests Egypt tried to obtain feed stocks from Canada. In addition, Egypt has
the ability to produce cyanide gas. Cordesman also cites a September 1993
London Times article that claims Egypt acquired approximately 90 tons of
trimethyl "phosphate," a precursor for "the mustard agent."
[Note: This
Cordesman report is the only source that mentions Egyptian efforts to obtain
such material from Canada. Furthermore, CNS researchers could not track down any
Times report that mentioned a trimethyl "phosphate" shipment from India
to Egypt. There was a September 1993 Times article that mentions two
separate shipments: 1) a trimethyl phospite (potential nerve agent key
precursor) shipment from India to Syria; and 2) reported thionyl chloride
shipments from India to Egypt. Thionyl chloride, a chlorinating agent, is a
potential precursor for the mustard and nerve agents. (Michael Evans, "Spy
Agencies Join Forces to Combat Secret Arms Trade, The Times, 20 September
1993.)]
— Anthony H. Cordesman, The Arab-Israeli Military Balance in
2002: Trends in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Weapons
(Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2002), p. 13.
2 February 2002
Egypt continues to be suspected of
stockpiling chemical weapons.
— "Know Thine Enemy - Weapons Proliferation,"
The Economist, 2 February 2002, <http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
19 March 2002
Testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign
Relations Committee states that Egypt was the first Arab country to "develop,
produce, stockpile, deploy, and use chemical weapons"; its program dates back to
the early 1960s. Egypt probably possesses mustard, phosgene, sarin, and VX.
— Amy Sands, "Deconstructing the Chem-Bio Threat," Federal News Service, 19
March 2002, <http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
August 2002
Concerns over a Middle East arms race include the marriage of Egypt's
missile capability (which has been assisted by North Korea and China) with its
chemical weapons capability, which dates back to the 1950s.
— Michael
Cabbage, "A Rough Neighborhood: Arms Race Adding Tensions in Mideast,"
Seattle Times, 18 August 2002, p. A3, <http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
1 December 2002
The London-based Sunday Telegraph
reported that Egypt persuaded Iraq to hide its weapons of mass destruction in
surrounding countries. This report prompts a response by Egypt's State
Information Service Chief Nabil Usman, who states that the claim is in sharp
contradiction to Egypt's policy of seeking a Middle East free of WMD.
— "Egypt Reports UK Paper's Publication of Response to Allegations over
Iraq," BBC Monitoring International Reports, 1 December 2002,
<http://web.lexis-nexis.com>.
1 December 2002
An
assessment of WMD in the Middle East notes that too few Middle East experts know
that Egypt possesses a chemical weapons program or that Egypt is pursuing new
unconventional weapons. Prior to the November BWC convention, U.S.
Undersecretary of State, John Bolton, commented on several Middle East countries
and their WMD programs, but did not address Egypt's WMD programs. The oversight
was most likely intentional in deference to Egypt's important role in backing
the United States in an anticipated invasion of Iraq.
— Al Venter, "A Circle
of WMD in the Middle East," Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst, 1 December
2002, <http://www.janes.com>.
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently
verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2008
by MIIS.
