POSSIBLE EFFORT BY SYRIA'S MISSILE PROGRAM TO

S E C R E T BERN 000315

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR ISN/MTR (M.KENNEDY) AND EUR/CE (Y.SAINT-ANDRE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2034
TAGS: PARM MTCRE ETTC MNUC KSCA PINR SZ SY
SUBJECT: POSSIBLE EFFORT BY SYRIA'S MISSILE PROGRAM TO
OBTAIN HIGH-SPEED CAMERA: SWISS FIRM RECEIVES SUSPICIOUSLY
SIMILAR QUERY FROM FIRM IN JORDAN

REF: A. BERN 279

B. STATE 68231

Classified By: Acting POLE Counselor Chris Buck; reasons 1.4(b),(c),a
nd (d).


1. (S) On July 27, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs
(SECO) Head of Export Control Licensing Division Juergen
Boehler contacted acting POLE counselor to report additional
information he thought potentially relevant to the recent
possible effort by Syria's missile program to obtain a
high-speed camera (reftels). Boehler underlined that the
Swiss firm, AOS Technologies, had been very cooperative with
SECO, informing SECO of the original query regarding a
high-speed camera (reftel A) and agreeing with SECO's denial
decision. (Note: Boehler said that the GoS subsequently has
informed all MTCR partners of the denial. End Note)
According to Boehler, AOS Technologies recently informed SECO
about another query AOS Technologies received regarding a
high-speed camera. Per Boehler, this second query was
suspiciously similar to the earlier query (reftels),in terms
of the equipment being sought.


2. (S) The details of this query, as provided to acting POLE
counselor by Boehler follow:

(BEGIN QUERY TEXT)

High Speed Colour Camera X-EMA-SDI/10.4 GB
Complete with:
- Zoom Lens 55-200mm
F4-5.6 with F-Mount adapter
- Additional Internal Battery

Kindly send us your offer for the above item on CFR Amman
basis together with your offer for the training of three of
three technicians from the manufacturer on the Camera for
three days at your facility.

Thanks and best regards,
Rami Fakhouri
Commercial Manager

International Technical and Engineering Services Corp.
Amman - Jordan
Tel.: 962.6.5167740
Fax: 962.6.5152505

(END QUERY TEXT)


3. (S) Boehler said that SECO has informed AOS Technologies
that SECO would deny an export request pursuant to the query
in para 2, and that AOS Technologies agrees and is not
pursuing the sale. Absent a formal denial, SECO does not
plan to inform other MTCR members of this approach, but
wanted the USG to be aware of this information, since it
could indicate that Syria is attempting to obtain high-speed
camera equipment via Jordan.
RORVIG