China is covertly working with North Koreans to modernize Egypt's short-range missile systems, raising new concerns among United States intelligence officials about the arms programs of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated government in Egypt.

A group of technicians from China's premier missile manufacturer that was previously sanctioned by the US government for illicit arms transfers are working in Egypt with North Koreans to modernize Cairo's Scud missile force.

According to US intelligence officials, reports of the missile technicians from the Beijing-based China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. are raising new concerns about US plans to sell arms to the government of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

The missile activities were detected in connection with Egypt's Sakr Factory, the main missile production facility that makes Egypt's Scud-Bs and extended-range Scud Cs.

An Egyptian military official had no immediate comment on the missile support from China and North Korea. A State Department spokesman declined to comment.

New intelligence about the Chinese-North Korean missile cooperation follow previous intelligence reports from November that North Korea was planning to ship Scud missile components to Egypt. That cooperation was first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear and long-range missile tests prohibit U.N. members from purchasing such North Korean military assistance...

A US official familiar with intelligence reports of the Chinese-North Korean missile cooperation said the ballistic missile upgrade program is raising concerns about Egypt's plan for a possible future conflict with Israel.

"Who are they planning to use those ballistic missiles against and what threat does Egypt face that would require ballistic missiles?" the official asked.

READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE: 01/29/2013