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Last update - 00:00 20/09/2008
Diplomats: No evidence Syria site bombed by IAF was nuclear reactor
By The Associated Press
Tags: Syria, Israel, IAEA, IAF

ntal tests are still outstanding.

Still, two of the three who spoke to The Associated Press said that IAEA officials did not expect the results from the samples still being tested to strongly contradict the first results.
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All three diplomats were informed of the status of the IAEA probe but demanded anonymity because their information was confidential.

Washington says that the Al Kibar site that the Israel Air Force destroyed last year was a near-finished plutonium-producing reactor built with North Korean help, and that Damascus continues to hide linked facilities. Syria denies that.

While allowing a small IAEA team to visit the bombed structure in a remote part of the Syrian desert earlier this year, Damascus subsequently turned down an agency request to revisit that and other suspect sites. That, and no evidence of a nuclear program from the rest of the samples, could spell the end of the investigation into the U.S. allegations.

IAEA inspectors looking for unreported nuclear activity usually test for radioactivity. But in this case, their mission was more difficult.

According to intelligence given to the Vienna-based agency by the U.S., Israel and a third, unidentified country, the alleged reactor was not yet completed at the time of the Sept. 6, 2007, bombing. That meant no nuclear material would have been present.

So, the inspectors looked for minute quantities of graphite, which is used as a cooling element in the type of North Korean prototype that was allegedly being built. Such a reactor contains hundreds of tons of graphite, and any major explosion would have sent dust over the immediate area.

But - if they were interested in a cover-up - the Syrians would have scoured the region to bury, wash away and otherwise remove any such traces. Long before the time of the June IAEA visit to the site, it had been encased in concrete that served as the foundation of a new building erected by the Syrians.

Former UN nuclear inspector David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security closely tracks suspect secret proliferators, said another possibility was that the IAF bombs did not penetrate deeply enough into the building to disperse the graphite.

While it is possible that none of the samples will yield traces of graphite, Albright said it was important to wait for the second batch of results, which are more sensitive and can pick up smaller quantities.

Beyond Al Kibar, the agency is also interested in going to three other locations suspected of harboring other secret nuclear activities - sites the Syrians insist are off limits because opening them up would expose military secrets.

More broadly, IAEA experts want to use a follow-up visit to put questions to Syrian officials based on intelligence they have been given outlining years of extensive cooperation between the Syrians and teams of visiting North Korean nuclear officials.

North Korea exploded a nuclear device in 2006. It is believed by experts to have produced enough weapons-grade plutonium to make as many as 10 nuclear bombs before agreeing to dismantle its weapons program early last year. It recently threatened to restart its nuclear reactor because of alleged U.S. failure to fulfill obligations under an international disarmament-for-aid deal.

Diplomats say Syria is strenuously denying any concerted North Korean presence in the country - despite U.S. intelligence alleging that the building bombed was a reactor of the type only built by the communist state.

They said Syrian officials described meetings between nuclear officials from Pyongyang and their Syrian counterparts as occasional and informal.

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  • Report: IAF strike targeted partly finished nuclear reactor in Syria
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  • CIA chief says strike on Syria was collaboration with 'foreign partner'
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      1.   Just the explain about the massive water pipes.. 23:27  |  Stephen. 20/09/08
      2.   Israeli paranoia confirmed! 00:09  |  Persian Hero 21/09/08
      3.   proof it was a nuclear reactor 00:13  |  vik 21/09/08
      4.   Show the IAEA the evidence of Larissan in Iran 00:19  |  Fortuna Benmayor 21/09/08
      5.   We Never Said It Was A Nuclear Reactor 00:20  |  Yosemite 21/09/08
      6.   So why Syria blocked the inspectors form approaching the site? 00:25  |  Dan 21/09/08
      7.   vik # 3 00:26  |  Veritas 21/09/08
      8.   So why Syria instantly destroyed and covered up the site? 00:29  |  Dan 21/09/08
      9.   No evidence at all 00:35  |  Jeff 21/09/08
      10.   Another Israeli mistake 00:44  |  Boycott 21/09/08
      11.   "persian hero": paranoia?That distinction is now an islamic trait 01:03  |  Arie 21/09/08
      12.   Stephen, Obviously the people that actually 01:09  |  spyguy 21/09/08
      13.   Bomb, then ck facts? 01:24  |  777 21/09/08
      14.   Like Duh! 02:04  |  Mark Lincoln 21/09/08
      15.   anonymous diplomats 02:06  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 21/09/08
      16.   North Korea vs Syria 02:11  |  Mark Lincoln 21/09/08
      17.   of course... after Syria blocked you at first from vising it 02:16  |  Joey 21/09/08
      18.   To No. 10 02:19  |  A.J. Myers 21/09/08
      19.   If we believed every "report" from the UN 03:18  |  Arie 21/09/08
      20.   If US would have abided by the NPT, there would be no question 04:17  |  Pablo B 21/09/08
      21.   A year later?!?! 05:09  |  Gili 21/09/08
      22.   If it doesn`t fit you must acquit !and compensate Syria 05:45  |  lydia 21/09/08
      23.   The incompetence of Muslim Arb El Baradei is mind bugling 05:32  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/09/08
      24.   No evidence the Mukhabarat exists 05:43  |  Fortuna Benmayor 21/09/08
      25.   it was all about ice cream 05:55  |  Mark 21/09/08
      26.   Listen, Laugh, then Go on About Your Business. 06:02  |  UsedToPostHere 21/09/08
      27.   see i told you so 07:24  |  zion knows it all 21/09/08
      28.   Nuclear site or not? 08:51  |  Michael 21/09/08
      29.   Actually, from aerial photos, it looks like a kindergarden 10:28  |  Alain 21/09/08
      30.   Oh shucks...so it was an empty warehouse after all 10:38  |  Clickfool 21/09/08
      31.   David Albright - the Walter Mitty nuclear "expert" who never was 10:55  |  Clickfool 21/09/08
      32.   It was a baby milk production facility 12:15  |  Harriet Harman 21/09/08
      33.   Have you noticed 12:23  |  Rachel Stevens 21/09/08
      34.   #.12. sgyguy. Crazy theories. Sure....??? 12:56  |  Stephen. 21/09/08
      35.   Diplomats: No evidence Syria site bombed.. 13:03  |  David Nigel Braham 21/09/08
      36.   Question for David Nigel Braham # 35 13:45  |  Clickfool 21/09/08
      37.   #33 - No Rachel, I didn`t notice 14:41  |  JES 21/09/08
      38.   dimona 14:52  |  the syrian 21/09/08
      39.   Why the surprise? 15:35  |  Mark Lincoln 21/09/08
      40.   Syrian Nuclear site? 18:07  |  Karliner 21/09/08
      41.   Israel fell for a ruse and now needs to make new plans 05:57  |  Jonathan Seer 22/09/08
      42.   sure, they were builidng DisneyWorld. 15:05  |  Sane israeli 22/09/08
      43.   #42 They don`t dispute it was a military building, Sane Israeli 03:22  |  Johnboy 23/09/08
      44.   Israel Bombing in Syria 20:13  |  Ralph 24/09/08
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