lily
04-26-2008, 12:17 AM
Seven months later........it looked fishey then.......now it just smells. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042500825.html?hpid=moreheadlines)
IAEA to probe Syria atomic plant report
By Mark Heinrich
Reuters
Friday, April 25, 2008; 6:35 PM
VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog pledged on Friday to
investigate whether Syria secretly built an atomic reactor with North Korean
help but criticized the United States for delaying the release of
intelligence.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
lambasted Israel for the air strike, saying his inspectors should have been
able to verify beforehand whether undeclared nuclear activity had been going
on.
"In light of (this, I) view the unilateral use of force by Israel as
undermining the due process of verification that is at the heart of the
non-proliferation regime," he said.
ElBaradei said the U.S. allegations against Syria, which denied the U.S.
charges and accused Washington of involvement in the Israeli air attack,
would be investigated with due vigor.
"The Agency will treat this information with the seriousness it deserves and
will investigate the veracity of the information," he said in a statement.
But ElBaradei, alluding to the United States, deplored a failure to share
intelligence information "in a timely manner" about the project, which
Washington said was launched in 2001.
A diplomat close to the Vienna-based agency expressed anger at the delay.
"There is a lot of annoyance here about the lateness in the day that the
IAEA got this information. Had this been given to the IAEA before this damn
bombing, then the world might know the true story," the diplomat said.
"Even right after the bombing, before the place was totally cleaned up, it
would have been easier."
ElBaradei confirmed Washington had handed over information this week saying
a Syrian installation destroyed by an Israeli air strike in September was an
unfinished atomic reactor.
The diplomat and analysts said the U.S. disclosure did not amount to proof
of an illicit nuclear arms program since there was no sign of a reprocessing
plant needed to convert spent fuel from the plant into bomb-grade plutonium.
"The absence of such facilities gives little confidence that the reactor was
part of an active nuclear weapons program," David Albright and Paul Brannan
of the Institute for Science and International Security said in an email
commentary.
"The United States does not have any indication of how Syria would fuel this
reactor ... This type of reactor requires a large supply of uranium fuel.
(All of this) raises questions about when this reactor could have operated."
Analysts say the Bush administration chose not to release the intelligence
earlier given a risk that it might prompt Syria to retaliate against Israel.
It published the information this week, they said, in the hope that
revealing what it believes about suspected Syria-North Korean nuclear
cooperation would encourage Pyongyang to come clean about suspected
proliferation activities and in turn encourage Congress to support dropping
sanctions on North Korea.
SYRIA MAKES COMPARISON WITH IRAQ
Syria likens the U.S. allegations to those made against Iraq about weapons
of mass destruction that were never found. It accused the United States of
colluding in Israel's air strike.
"The U.S. administration was apparently party to the execution" of the air
raid, a Syrian government statement said, without giving details. A U.S.
official said Washington did not give Israel any "green light" to strike the
area.
Israel is widely believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal
which experts estimate at up to 200 warheads. The Jewish state has never
declared its nuclear firepower as part of a "strategic ambiguity" policy to
deter adversaries.
Syria has belonged to the 144-nation IAEA since 1963 and has one, declared
small research reactor subject to U.N. inspection.
IAEA to probe Syria atomic plant report
By Mark Heinrich
Reuters
Friday, April 25, 2008; 6:35 PM
VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog pledged on Friday to
investigate whether Syria secretly built an atomic reactor with North Korean
help but criticized the United States for delaying the release of
intelligence.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
lambasted Israel for the air strike, saying his inspectors should have been
able to verify beforehand whether undeclared nuclear activity had been going
on.
"In light of (this, I) view the unilateral use of force by Israel as
undermining the due process of verification that is at the heart of the
non-proliferation regime," he said.
ElBaradei said the U.S. allegations against Syria, which denied the U.S.
charges and accused Washington of involvement in the Israeli air attack,
would be investigated with due vigor.
"The Agency will treat this information with the seriousness it deserves and
will investigate the veracity of the information," he said in a statement.
But ElBaradei, alluding to the United States, deplored a failure to share
intelligence information "in a timely manner" about the project, which
Washington said was launched in 2001.
A diplomat close to the Vienna-based agency expressed anger at the delay.
"There is a lot of annoyance here about the lateness in the day that the
IAEA got this information. Had this been given to the IAEA before this damn
bombing, then the world might know the true story," the diplomat said.
"Even right after the bombing, before the place was totally cleaned up, it
would have been easier."
ElBaradei confirmed Washington had handed over information this week saying
a Syrian installation destroyed by an Israeli air strike in September was an
unfinished atomic reactor.
The diplomat and analysts said the U.S. disclosure did not amount to proof
of an illicit nuclear arms program since there was no sign of a reprocessing
plant needed to convert spent fuel from the plant into bomb-grade plutonium.
"The absence of such facilities gives little confidence that the reactor was
part of an active nuclear weapons program," David Albright and Paul Brannan
of the Institute for Science and International Security said in an email
commentary.
"The United States does not have any indication of how Syria would fuel this
reactor ... This type of reactor requires a large supply of uranium fuel.
(All of this) raises questions about when this reactor could have operated."
Analysts say the Bush administration chose not to release the intelligence
earlier given a risk that it might prompt Syria to retaliate against Israel.
It published the information this week, they said, in the hope that
revealing what it believes about suspected Syria-North Korean nuclear
cooperation would encourage Pyongyang to come clean about suspected
proliferation activities and in turn encourage Congress to support dropping
sanctions on North Korea.
SYRIA MAKES COMPARISON WITH IRAQ
Syria likens the U.S. allegations to those made against Iraq about weapons
of mass destruction that were never found. It accused the United States of
colluding in Israel's air strike.
"The U.S. administration was apparently party to the execution" of the air
raid, a Syrian government statement said, without giving details. A U.S.
official said Washington did not give Israel any "green light" to strike the
area.
Israel is widely believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal
which experts estimate at up to 200 warheads. The Jewish state has never
declared its nuclear firepower as part of a "strategic ambiguity" policy to
deter adversaries.
Syria has belonged to the 144-nation IAEA since 1963 and has one, declared
small research reactor subject to U.N. inspection.