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Egypt’s surreptitious nuclear arms program a problem for USA

Egypt has been quietly carrying out research and development on weapons of mass destruction — including nuclear

Egypt’s WMD programs complicate U.S. response, World blog, 7 Feb 2011, With Egypt in revolt and the country’s future uncertain, concern is growing over whether a new government in the Arab world’s most militarily and industrially advanced country could accelerate an arms race in one of the world’s most volatile regions.

NBC News’ senior investigative producer, Robert Windrem, reports that intelligence indicates Egypt has been quietly carrying out research and development on weapons of mass destruction — including nuclear, chemical, biological and missile technology.

“If we found another country doing what they’ve done, we would have been all over them,” a former U.S. intelligence official says, but Egypt’s role as a staunch U.S. ally and stabilizing force in the Middle East and later as a key player in U.S. counterterrorism efforts has kept Washington’s fretting behind the scenes.

NBC News has obtained more than a dozen documents from the United States, Russia and Israel that shed some light on several of the programs, including its nuclear potential and details of a joint North Korean-Egyptian missile development agreement. Windrem breaks them down here.

February 8, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Egypt, politics international, weapons and war