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March 8, 2012

U.S., Jordan Discuss Securing Syria Cache

Fears Mount Over Suspected Chemical, Biological Weapons

By JAY SOLOMON And JULIAN E. BARNES

WASHINGTON--The American and Jordanian militaries are jointly developing plans to secure what is believed to be Syria's vast stockpile of chemical and biological weapons, said U.S. and Arab officials briefed on the discussions.

The groundwork comes amid mounting concerns about Damascus's arsenal of nerve agents and mustard gas at a time of growing instability in the country. One plan would call for Jordanian Special Operations units, acting as part of any broader Arab League peacekeeping mission, to go into Syria to secure nearly a dozen sites thought to contain weapons, these officials said.

A high-level delegation of Jordanian defense officials visited the Pentagon late last month to discuss the threat of Syrian weapons of mass destruction and other security issues, said officials from both governments.

U.S. officials stressed that Washington and Amman don't foresee unilateral commando raids inside Syria, due to the potential for direct conflict with President Bashar al-Assad's security forces. But they said that locating and securing the sites will be a central part of any peacekeeping mission that is eventually allowed into the country.

"Anything of that nature has to be done in a permissive environment," said a senior U.S. official briefed on the discussions with the Jordanians. "If you do not have a permissive environment, you will have a hard time getting anyone to go in... No one is going to want to fight their way in through bad stuff, like chem and bio weapons."

The threat posed by Syria's weapons of mass destruction has emerged as among the most pressing issues the Obama administration faces as it works with its European and Mideast allies to fashion a response to the worsening conflict inside the Arab country.

Syria is believed to have one of the world's largest stockpiles of chemical weapons and is one of only seven nations that didn't sign the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, the arms-control agreement that outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of such weapons. Other non-signatories include Israel, North Korea, Myanmar and Egypt.

Over the past four decades, Syria amassed vast supplies of mustard gas, sarin nerve agent and cyanide, according to declassified reports by the Central Intelligence Agency. Significant quantities of these chemical agents are believed to have been weaponized by the Syrian government in artillery shells, bombs and possibly Scud and SS-21 missiles.

Russia, North Korea, Egypt and Iran are among the countries that have assisted Damascus in developing these weapons, according to current and former U.S. officials.

Experts on Syria's weapons program said the chemical and biological weapons are developed and stored in nearly a dozen sites, largely in northern and central Syria. Some of these sites are in cities currently racked by violence, such as Hama and Homs.

U.S. officials this week said there are no indications that Mr. Assad's security forces are prepared to use these weapons against Damascus's political opponents, or that they have gone loose. But the Obama administration increasingly believes the Assad regime will eventually fall.

Should that happen, Syria's neighbors, in particular Jordan and Turkey, have told U.S. officials they are worried about what would become of the weapons. The Turkish and Jordanian officials expressed concern that elements of the Syrian opposition have ties to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and could seek to use the weapons in terror attacks around the Mideast, said a U.S. official.

Senior defense officials said they are worried they could wind up in the hands of Lebanon's Hezbollah or other militant groups in the region.

"If left unsecured, it would be, potentially, a very serious threat in the hands of ... Lebanese Hezbollah," Adm. William McRaven, head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, told a congressional committee Wednesday. "I think that it's going to take an international effort when Assad falls--and he will fall--in order to secure these weapons."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held extensive discussions on the Syrian WMD threat with President Barack Obama and his national security adviser, Thomas Donilon, in recent weeks, said officials from both governments. Israel's government is concerned about Hezbollah or other militant groups obtaining the weapons and using them to threaten the Jewish state.

The Obama administration is coordinating particularly closely with Jordan because of its proximity to Syria and Amman's strong intelligence and commando capabilities. Jordan also has a history of cooperating with American special-operations teams.

The two countries have jointly run operations against al Qaeda in both Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years. Jordan's main spy agency, the General Intelligence Directorate, played a lead role in the 2006 assassination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, according to U.S. officials.

Jordan has invested heavily in its counter-terrorism forces, and regularly trains and exercises with U.S. special operations forces. "They would be real good" at operating inside Syria, the senior official said of the Jordanian special operations forces.

U.S. officials believe a U.N. Security Council resolution allowing outside intervention by Western powers in Syria remains impossible. But U.S. officials believe the Arab League still could broker a peace agreement that would have a variety of Arab countries providing peacekeepers in Syria.

Mr. Assad, U.S. officials believe, might be willing to allow Arab League peacekeepers into the country if he--and his Iranian backers--come to believe that such a deal is the best way for him to stay in power.

Still, the Obama administration wants Mr. Assad to step aside, and U.S. officials said his downfall would be the best way to secure the weapons.

"The hinge is a permissive environment, which means Assad has to fall," said a U.S. defense official. "And we could be a long way from a permissive environment."

Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com and Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com