This is just too distressing for words:
The North Korean ship that last year delivered Scud missiles to Yemen transferred a large shipment of chemical weapons material from Germany to North Korea recently, U.S. intelligence officials said.
The ship, the Sosan, was monitored as it arrived in North Korea earlier this month carrying a shipment of sodium cyanide, a precursor chemical used in making nerve gas, said officials familiar with intelligence reports.
The same ship was stopped by U.S. and Spanish naval vessels Dec. 9 as it neared Yemen. It was carrying 15 Scud missiles and warheads. After a brief delay and assurances from the Yemeni government, the ship was allowed to proceed to Yemen with the missile shipment.
After unloading the missiles in Yemen, the Sosan then traveled to Germany, where it took on a cargo of sodium cyanide estimated to weigh several tons. The ship then was tracked as it traveled to North Korea. It arrived at the west coast seaport of Nampo on Thursday, the officials said.
The Germans and the French- our partners on the Security Council.
Matthew
I agree John. That’s an incredibly disturbing story. I posted my reaction here:
http://portablematthew.blogspot.com/2003_02_16_portablematthew_archive.html#89420630
Ed Flinn
For what it’s worth, there are legitimate uses for sodium cyanide, such as those shown at http://www.chemlink.com.au/cyanide.htm. Not that any of those necessarily apply to North Korea, of course.