interesting:
>Although supposedly autonomous, Jane's Intelligence Services and other analysts believe the SSRC to be linked to the military establishment, where it is allegedly responsible for new research and development of nuclear, biological, chemical, and missile-related technology. [4] The SSRC also works with the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria, forming a nexus between the country's primary atomic, military, and scientific establishments. [5]
…
>In 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13382: "Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and their Supporters," which placed the SSRC on the U.S. Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals list and prohibited U.S. citizens and residents from doing business with the SSRC. [8] In 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department froze the assets of other SSRC subsidiaries, listing SSRC as the "Syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons and the missiles to deliver them." [9] The suspicions mostly revolved around the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missiles.