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Report: Israeli mole provided photos of Syrian nuclear facility
By Haaretz Service and Reuters

Israel had obtained detailed pictures of a Syrian complex from an apparent mole, which supported an Israeli belief the facility was nuclear and led to an air strike on it last month, ABC News reported on Friday.

Media reports have speculated that the IAF targeted a North Korean nuclear facility in its air strike on Syria last month. Neither Israel nor Syria has confirmed these speculations.

ABC, citing a senior U.S. official, said the person had provided several pictures of the complex from the ground, and Israel showed the images to the CIA. The U.S. spy agency helped pinpoint "drop points" to assist in potential targeting, ABC said.
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Israel urged the United States to destroy the complex, but Washington hesitated because no fissionable material was found that would prove the site was nuclear, ABC said.

The network quoted the official as saying the facility was of North Korean design and that Syria must have had "human" help from North Korea.

The White House and the CIA declined to comment on the report, in keeping with a strict U.S. refusal to discuss the issue.

The complex struck by Israel was in a remote area about 100 miles (160 km) from the Iraqi border and along the Euphrates River, ABC said.

It said the official described the pictures as showing a large cylindrical structure, still under construction, with thick reinforced walls. There was also a secondary structure and a pump station with trucks around it.

"It was unmistakable what it was going to be. No doubt in my mind," ABC quoted the official as saying.

The U.S. had begun to consider ways to destroy the complex, such as a special forces raid using helicopters, ABC said. But it said the White House sent word the U.S. would not carry out a raid and urged Israel not to do it either.

Report: Syria dismantling facility targeted by IAF
Syria has begun dismantling the ruins of a site that was bombed by the Israel Air Force on September 6, the Washington Post reported Friday.

According to the report, which quotes senior U.S. officials, this could be an attempt by Syria to avoid an international inspection of the bombed facility.

The Washington Post quoted top U.S. officials as saying that photos taken from the air reveal that that the site had the characteristics of a small but significant nuclear reactor, similar to those found in North Korea.

The dismantling of the facility, a process which appears to be underway, could make it difficult for inspectors to determine the exact nature of the facility, and what Syria's intentions for it had been, the paper reported.

Syria, which possesses a small nuclear reactor for research purposes, has denied allegations that it aims to expand it nuclear program. However, U.S. officials with knowledge of the Israeli strike described the target as a nuclear facility, built with North Korean assistance.

Last week Syria presented to reporters and film crews a facility they claimed was the targeted site, but in fact was a different site, the report continued, in efforts to substantiate its claim that the IAF had struck an empty structure.

While most American officials believe that Syria does in fact have nuclear aspirations, they are divided over the degree of the threat posed by these aspirations. Arms specialists have said with near certainty that Syria would have taken several years to complete the nuclear reactor, and a much longer time to produce significant amounts of plutonium for possible use in a nuclear weapon.

The paper quoted weapons experts as saying that Israel and the U.S. decided not to approach the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency with their concerns over Syria's plans because they feared that the agency's weak response would encourage the country to continue its nuclear work.

Meanwhile, diplomats reported Friday that United Nations experts have been provided with satellite imagery of the facility and are analyzing it for signs that it might have been a secret nuclear site.

One of the diplomats indicated that the photos came from U.S intelligence. Another said the images, which have been studied by experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency since being received on Thursday, do not at first examination appear to substantiate reports that the target was a nuclear installation, but emphasized that the images were still being looked at.


Related articles:
  • Syria: Israel is spreading false reports in order to justify war
  • Report: Syria, North Korea hold high-level talks in Pyongyang
  • CNN: Israeli gov't 'very happy with success' of IAF strike on Syria
  • UN blames interpreter's error for report Syria has nuclear facility
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      1.   The media cover up 16:11  |  Lars Hansen 19/10/07
      2.   Key sentence, the rest is fluff 16:22  |  Man deVoshkes 19/10/07
      3.   It is the same old prejudices 16:24  |  Blabass 19/10/07
      4.   Why the rush to dismantle what didn`t exist?? 16:25  |  * BEN JABO 19/10/07
      5.   Grist for the rumor mill 16:25  |  sh 19/10/07
      6.   Who made the law . . . 16:34  |  Jeremiah 19/10/07
      7.   A perfect, circular story for the Washington Post 16:59  |  Clickfool 19/10/07
      8.   IAEA Surveillance Capabilities 17:00  |  Mark of Lewiston 19/10/07
      9.   To 1 and 2 17:14  |  joebhed 19/10/07
      10.   That turned into 1 and 3, not 2 17:15  |  joebhed 19/10/07
      11.   Jeremiah: simple answer 17:33  |  makorepo 19/10/07
      12.   Phony Baloney 17:36  |  Tosefta 19/10/07
      13.   More proof of Bush violation of NPT and US constitutional powers 18:07  |  Pablo B 19/10/07
      14.   #2, you are silly 18:11  |  The Barber 19/10/07
      15.   Syria is spring-cleaning to welcome el-baradei of IAEA 18:11  |  CK Tan 19/10/07
      16.   #6 clickfool is hopping MAD because WaPo 18:13  |  CK Tan 19/10/07
      17.   Syria 18:42  |  Paul 19/10/07
      18.   #6 Clickfool - For you it is a circular story. 18:44  |  S 19/10/07
      19.   #2 18:44  |  Paul 19/10/07
      20.   IAEA 18:46  |  Paul 19/10/07
      21.   Different event but same Arab lies. 18:55  |  Chick 19/10/07
      22.   Either everybody`s going to have nuclear weapons or no one is. 18:55  |  Apartheid 19/10/07
      23.   Phony Baloney 19:05  |  Tosefta 19/10/07
      24.   nothing to prove 19:15  |  Realistic Arab 19/10/07
      25.   Mark of Lewiston - capabilities 19:35  |  Mark Lincoln 19/10/07
      26.   Coming next week! 19:38  |  Mark Lincoln 19/10/07
      27.   #17 What an Idiot.. and I don`t use that term lightly 19:40  |  Chick 19/10/07
      28.   Just like Larisan in Iran 19:57  |  Fortuna Benmayor 19/10/07
      29.   measure radiation today 20:05  |  Ari 19/10/07
      30.   By #17 I meant the fool who calls him/her self `apartheid` 20:24  |  Chick 19/10/07
      31.   This is all hearsay 20:26  |  Rich 19/10/07
      32.   #1 "Lars Hansen"; Go draw some cartoons! 20:26  |  Murray of Montreal 19/10/07
      33.   Natural Born Liars 20:30  |  Nick 19/10/07
      34.   #6 Jeremiah; "Who made the law" 20:34  |  Murray of Montreal 19/10/07
      35.   measure radiation today 20:34  |  esther 19/10/07
      36.   Israel attacked Syria 20:35  |  Gunther 19/10/07
      37.   Syria 20:36  |  P. J. Casey 19/10/07
      38.   #1 Lars Hansen 20:38  |  Samuel Foster 19/10/07
      39.   For CK Tan # 16 20:44  |  Clickfool 19/10/07
      40.   Location 20:55  |  Chris 19/10/07
      41.   Rude Lars #1 20:57  |  Polybios 19/10/07
      42.   What could be better?? 21:06  |  Voice of Reason 19/10/07
      43.   TO #6 21:19  |  Ari 19/10/07
      44.   Chick #27- the `Idiot" i am referring to is not #17 but 22:03  |  Chick 19/10/07
      45.   # 25 Mark Lincoln 22:08  |  Lynn 19/10/07
      46.   No Nukes For You! 22:10  |  Robert 19/10/07
      47.   Lynn- deterrence.... 22:38  |  Tess 19/10/07
      48.   Lynn #32 22:40  |  TonyL 19/10/07
      49.   Everything confirms the original rumour 22:43  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/10/07
      50.   #24 realistic arab 22:45  |  * BEN JABO 19/10/07
      51.   The boy that cried wolf.... 22:45  |  Tess 19/10/07
      52.   Saddam`s mistake (Lynn #32) 23:30  |  Tosefta 19/10/07
      53.   Ari - Syria is not making things difficult 23:30  |  Mark Lincoln 19/10/07
      54.   US , Israel and UN 23:31  |  Truths 19/10/07
      55.   Sorry Lynn 23:35  |  Mark Lincoln 19/10/07
      56.   There is a simple fact which must be faced 23:42  |  Mark Lincoln 19/10/07
      57.   Tosefta - the rush to war 00:23  |  Mark Lincoln 20/10/07
      58.   So yes... and how about the city of Dresden... 00:33  |  Dutch Dirk 20/10/07
      59.   Clickfool and other doubters 01:29  |  Petero 20/10/07
      60.   Clickfool and other doubters 01:34  |  Petero 20/10/07
      61.   The Clinton and Bush mistakes 02:14  |  Tosefta 20/10/07
      62.   #22 02:44  |  fred 20/10/07
      63.   Mark Lincoln # 57 - I Agree With You About The decision to Go To 03:25  |  Eli 20/10/07
      64.   WHERE IS THE PROOF? i want pictures 04:09  |  VIPER 20/10/07
      65.   Eli - up until January 2003 04:14  |  Mark Lincoln 20/10/07
      66.   Reports, reality, and revisionism 04:20  |  Mark Lincoln 20/10/07
      67.   be careful, lincoln 04:50  |  wiseUP 20/10/07
      68.   #51 Tess - About crying wolf 05:54  |  * BEN JABO 20/10/07
      69.   More from the mouthpiece of US/Zionist propaganda rags! 06:11  |  Maureen Ann 20/10/07
      70.   Dutch Dirk - Israel Has Not Made Any Claims 06:42  |  Eli 20/10/07
      71.   Mark Lincoln - You May Be Right About The Report 06:51  |  Eli 20/10/07
      72.   First Viper Then Maureen Ann - The Termites Have Come Out 06:55  |  Eli 20/10/07
      73.   #1 Hansen: What a shame to write such words as you do! 07:09  |  Vittorio 20/10/07
      74.   They were busted that`s why? 07:29  |  cristo 20/10/07
      75.   This bit is an absolute HOOT!!! 08:02  |  Johnboy 20/10/07
      76.   TO Tosefta # 12 Only Theories.... 08:23  |  Dolly 20/10/07
      77.   hey maureen 08:25  |  vik 20/10/07
      78.   Israel`s smokescreen 08:27  |  Palestinian Brit 20/10/07
      79.   Re esther #35. Fake or name copycat......? 08:31  |  Esther 20/10/07
      80.   Tosefta #12 09:09  |  S