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By Robin Hughes JDW Deputy Editor London Following the signature and ratification of a joint strategic defence co-operation accord in November 2005, Syria and Iran have moved to consolidate their collaborative strategic signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities in the region. As part of this strategic co-operation, diplomatic sources told Jane's, two joint Iranian-Syrian SIGINT stations have been established in the Al-Jazirah region in northern Syria and on the Golan Heights and have been operating since early June. The sources added that "during the coming year and not later than January 2007", two additional SIGINT stations are expected to be added to those two already operating. Located in Bab Al-Hawa' in northern Syria (near the Turkish border) and in the region of AlbuKamal in north-eastern Syria, south of Al-Jazirah, these are still under construction. The four SIGINT bases, according to the sources, are for collecting intelligence on all countries bordering Syria. "The purpose of this multi-resourced programme is to significantly promote Syria's and Iran's SIGINT capabilities for locating and acquiring intelligence information as well as for completing intelligence 'gaps' for the IRGC." The bases are subordinated exclusively to a joint Iranian-Syrian intelligence mechanism, with the information sent directly to the head of the Syrian Military Intelligence Directorate, Samir Nabulsi - a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. 209 of 774 words © 2006 Jane's Information Group [End of non-subscriber extract] Customers with a paid subscription to Jane’s Defence Weekly can access the full article here If you would like to subscribe, please see our products section for more information and pricing on Defence Weekly |
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e f e n c e S p o n s o r:
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