IAEA head slams Israel over Syria raid - Haaretz

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Tue., October 30, 2007 Cheshvan 18, 5768

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IAEA head slams Israel over Syria raid

By Reuters

WASHINGTON - The head of the UN nuclear watchdog criticized Israel yesterday for attacking a suspicious Syrian site last month, saying the "bomb first and then ask questions later" idea undermined global atomic monitoring.

In his first comment on Israel's mysterious bombing of what some analysts suggested was a nascent Syrian nuclear reactor, Mohammed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called on Israelis and others to share information with IAEA.

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"We have a system," he told CNN in an interview. "If countries have information that [a] country is working on a nuclear-related program, they should come to us."

An Washington-based atomic research institute said Israel appeared to have bombed a facility in northern Syria resembling a North Korean gas graphite nuclear reactor. The Syrians razed the site after the raid, the Institute for Science and International Security said.

No information from Syria

ElBaradei told CNN the IAEA has not received information about any clandestine nuclear activities in Syria.

He said the agency had the authority and capacity to investigate such information.

"But to bomb first and then ask questions later - it undermines the system and doesn't lead to any solution to any suspicion," said ElBaradei.

The IAEA chief said he was told by Syria that the site hit was a military facility.

The IAEA was comparing commercial satellite photos of the site before and after the Sept. 6 raid, ElBaradei said. "But in addition ..., I would very much hope that countries will come forward if they have information so we'll ... go through a due process."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday that he apologized to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting in London last week because Israel's air force may have flown over neighboring Turkey during the sortie.

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