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The site of the Syrian nuclear facility before and after it was hit in an IAF strike last September.
Last update - 13:55 25/04/2008
Syria accuses U.S. of aiding Israel in strike on nuke facility
Tags: U.S., Israel, nuclear reactor 

Syria on Friday accused the United States of involvement in an Israel Air Force attack on Syria last year that Washington said struck a suspected nuclear reactor built with North Korea's help.

A Syrian statement said: "The U.S. administration was apparently party to the execution" of the September raid by IAF warplanes on eastern Syria. The statement did not give details.

A U.S. official said Thursday that the United States did not green light The IAF attack. The official spoke shortly after American intelligence officials heard details of the alleged incident.
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The White House on Thursday urged Syria to "come clean" about the nuclear facility, which a senior U.S. official said had been near completion when it was destroyed by the Israel Air Force in September 2007.

"The Syrian regime must come clean before the world regarding its illicut
nuclear activities," White House press secretary Dana Perino said, shortly after U.S. intelligence officials presented lawmakers with evidence that Pyongyang had assisted Syria's secret nuclear program.

"We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria's covert nuclear activities," she said, adding "We have good reason to believe that reactor, which was damaged beyond repair on September 6 of last year, was not intended for peaceful purposes."

Syria's statement of response on Friday repeated Damascus's denial of
involvement in nuclear activity and dismissed Washington's accusations as part of a campaign to discredit the Damascus government.

"The Syrian government regrets the campaign of lies and falsification by the U.S. administration against Syria, including allegations of nuclear activity," said the statement, which was issued on the state news agency.

"Syria asks the United States to act responsibly and stop creating more crises in the Middle East," the statement added.

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday denied any nuclear link to North Korea.

IAEA blasts U.S. for keeping mum on alleged Syria nukes site

Meanwhile, the head of the UN nuclear monitoring agency on Friday criticized the U.S. for not giving his organization intelligence
information sooner on the alleged nuclear reactor.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei also chastised Israel for bombing the site seven months ago, in a statement whose strong language reflected his anger at being kept out of the picture for so long.

"The director general deplores the fact that this information was not provided to the agency in a timely manner, in accordance with the agency's responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to enable it to verify its veracity and establish the facts," the statement said.

"Additionally, the director general views the unilateral use of force by Israel as undermining the due process of verification that is at the heart of the nonproliferation regime," it said.

CIA Director Michael Hayden and other intelligence officials went to
Congress on Thursday to brief the lawmakers on the evidence related to the bombed Syrian facility. They had appearances scheduled before the House and Senate armed services, intelligence and foreign affairs committees.

The White House also said that the suspected nuclear site, which the lawmakers were told had been built with North Korean help, had been demolished beyond repair, and that Syria tried to bury evidence of its existence.

The White House said that the reactor had not been intended for peaceful purposes, and demonstrated the need for action against Iran's nuclear program.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official said Thursday that the reactor was within weeks or months of being functional when it was destroyed.

"The facility was mostly completed but still needed significant testing before it could be declared operational," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

However, no uranium - needed to fuel a reactor - was evident at the site, a remote area of eastern Syria along the Euphrates River.

Independent American nuclear experts have determined that while the suspected nuclear site was in its final stages of construction when destroyed, it was still far from being operational or active.

Experts David Albright and Paul Brannan, of the independent Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) based their conclusion on a CIA document released earlier Thursday to the American media.

According to the two, the U.S. did not know how Syria was planning to activate its nuclear program nor does it have intelligence proving that North Korea has - or plans to give Damascus - the nuclear fuel required to activate the facility.

'Twin reactors'

The Syrian reactor was similar in design to a North Korean reactor that has in the past produced small amounts of plutonium, a U.S. official told foreign media, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

According to a report by The Washington Post on its Web site Thursday, the U.S. has video footage - which the report says was obtained by Israel - that shows that the similarities in design between the Syrian site and the North Korean nuclear reactor in Yongbyon.

The reactor was reportedly not yet complete but far enough along to demonstrate a resemblance to the reactor at Yongbyon, which supposedly is being dismantled. The official said no uranium, a reactor's fuel, was evident on site.

Since Israel learned of the planned Congressional hearings three weeks ago, its defense officials have expressed concerns that publication of classified details about the attack could compel Syria to resort to a violent response, or at any rate reignite tensions between Jerusalem and Damascus.

The closed-door briefings conducted by Hayden and other intelligence officials breaks U.S. official silence on the matter and could complicate American diplomacy with North Korea and in the Middle East.

While lawmakers declined to discuss the intelligence after the briefings, some described them as "compelling."

Report: Israel gave U.S. video of Koreans at Syria site

The Washington Post said Thursday that the White House was expected to show video images "it claims support allegations that North Korea was helping Syria to build a nuclear reactor."

A U.S. official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to discuss classified matters, said that among the intelligence the United States has was an image of what appeared to be people of Korean descent at the facility.

However, the official stressed that this image was only part of a wider array of information gathered from multiple sources on the suspected cooperation between Syria and North Korea.

The report quotes a U.S. intelligence official saying the Syrian facility bears "remarkable resemblances inside and out to Yongbyon." It also quotes a nuclear specialist calling the video "very, very damning."

Israel apparently showed the video to the U.S. prior to the September strike, according to the Post report, after the Bush administration said it doubted the site was built with North Korean assistance.

Syria denies North Korea cooperation

Syria on Thursday dismissed U.S. accusations that North Korea was helping it build a nuclear reactor that could produce plutonium.

Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Ja'afari told reporters on Wednesday that "there was no Syria-North Korea cooperation whatsoever in Syria. We deny these rumors."

Syria's ambassador to Britain, Sami al-Khiyami, told Reuters that the accusation was intended to put pressure on North Korea in talks about Pyongyang's nuclear program.

"This has nothing to do with North Korea and Syria. They just want to exert more pressure on North Korea. This is why they are coming up with this story," Khiyami said.

"This is political manipulation ahead of the talks with North Korea to exert more pressure on them."

The White House has said little about the possibility of such cooperation between the two since Israel allegedly conducted the mysterious September 6 air strike.

"Unfortunately the scenario of taking and retaking pictures looks like what happened before the Iraq war, when the U.S. administration was trying to convince the world that Iraq had nuclear weapons," Khiyami said.

"Instead of coming up with these ridiculous photos I think the U.S. administration should put all their effort into clearing the Middle East region of all weapons of mass destruction, starting with its closest ally Israel."

Related articles:
  • Israel asks not to detail IAF airstrike
  • ANALYSIS: U.S. to ask N. Korea: Where's the missing plutonium?
  • Rice: Syria 'most certainly an issue in nuclear proliferation'
  • PM makes first public hint at alleged IAF operation in Syria
  • Syrian VP says Damascus' response to IAF action will come quickly
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      1.   USA gave Israel the OK and Info and Israel hit Syria.... 04:11  |  MOE 24/04/08
      2.   Golan will be returned to Syria soon here why: 04:12  |  MOE 24/04/08
      3.   Middle East Soap Opera 04:15  |  George W. BUsh 24/04/08
      4.   Is This acceptable for an Israeli-Palestinian Peace accord: 04:15  |  MOE 24/04/08
      5.   Middle East Soap Opera Part2 04:19  |  George W. Bush 24/04/08
      6.   The Less You Say, the Better ! 04:19  |  MIKE 24/04/08
      7.   Gee, as I already noted that 05:41  |  Mark Lincoln 24/04/08
      8.   First things first 05:48  |  Mark Lincoln 24/04/08
      9.   Known Liars and the known reality 05:52  |  Mark Lincoln 24/04/08
      10.   I note the authors of this report 05:55  |  Mark Lincoln 24/04/08
      11.   The US needs to act in it`s own best interests, not Israel`s 06:12  |  * BEN JABO 24/04/08
      12.   #4 MOE - No, its not even close. You miss the critical piece - 06:13  |  Dr. L. Brnd 24/04/08
      13.   #6 MIKE thinks keeping mum is a good idea 06:16  |  Johnboy 24/04/08
      14.   Bug out Israel 06:43  |  Steve 24/04/08
      15.   Israel needs to be very weary of certain congressional folk 06:51  |  david 24/04/08
      16.   Moe - proposals 06:58  |  Reid 24/04/08
      17.   This is a perverse US-Israeli bluff 07:06  |  Rowan 24/04/08
      18.   Mark Lincoln: I laugh at your frustration 07:11  |  Abraham Saks 24/04/08
      19.   #12 Your Proposal is Nothing! 07:35  |  MOE 24/04/08
      20.   #13, jb 07:35  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 24/04/08
      21.   Don`t worry be happy ;-) 08:47  |  Lou Rothstein 24/04/08
      22.   A video taken INSIDE 09:12  |  Rowan 24/04/08
      23.   Let Israel show cause for the attack 09:23  |  Natallie Durson 24/04/08
      24.   #4 MOE proposal 09:26  |  joki 24/04/08
      25.   To Moe # 19 Don´t write this here 09:29  |  dovale 24/04/08
      26.   A large square building was flattened by Israeli warplanes 09:37  |  Clickfool 24/04/08
      27.   #24, joki, I agree, as you put it, more or less 09:57  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 24/04/08
      28.   #20 Laughable, Cipora.... 09:59  |  Johnboy 24/04/08
      29.   #22 Yeah, right, rowan 10:01  |  Johnboy 24/04/08
      30.   Mark Lincoln #8 You could make good money as an expert witness 10:24  |  S 24/04/08
      31.   Gee, as I have already noted 10:38  |  TonyL 24/04/08
      32.   #Moe 4.3 11:11  |  Jan Vlaming 24/04/08
      33.   9# Mark Lincoln "why was there no Guard no even a Gete" 11:13  |  Akram Zekaria 24/04/08
      34.   CIA back-pedals on video 11:54  |  Rowan 24/04/08
      35.   #29 - So, Johnboy 11:58  |  JES 24/04/08
      36.   mark lincoln loves to show knowledge 12:07  |  harzion 24/04/08
      37.   Which is why a former member of Haganah 12:20  |  Chris Linthwaite 24/04/08
      38.   Is America trying to sabotage Israel´s peace-efforts with Syria? 13:23  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/04/08
      39.   Would ceding Golan suffice to appease deceived Syria? 13:43  |  ÁliciaYasmeen 24/04/08
      40.   Israel, leave the US out of your petty squabbles 13:48  |  Greg Bacon 24/04/08
      41.   #35 Laughable,JES 13:55  |  Johnboy 24/04/08
      42.   #33 Akram, who makes light of the lack of a fence. 14:05  |  Johnboy 24/04/08
      43.   MOE # 19 Your Proposal Is Refreshingly Reasonable (part 1) 14:11  |  Jeff Northridge 24/04/08
      44.   #8: Mark Lincoln, I can help you 14:18  |  Doc Holliday 24/04/08
      45.   MOE # 19 Your Proposal Is Refreshingly Reasonable (part 2) 14:19  |  Jeff Northridge 24/04/08
      46.   Syrian reactor? BS!!! 14:42  |  real news 24/04/08
      47.   The U.S. don´t need this info from Israel! 14:45  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/04/08
      48.   Syrian reactor? ziocon hasbara!! 15:14  |  rawstory 24/04/08
      49.   #44 I thought you`d been around here for a while, Doc? 15:16  |  Johnboy 24/04/08
      50.   Johnboy # 41 Security Was To Be Added Later 15:24  |  Jeff Northridge 24/04/08
      51.   johnboy the vanunu photos were not fake at all. 15:42  |  zevulun 24/04/08
      52.   Clickfool (26) if it were only "a large square building" 15:52  |  Karl 24/04/08
      53.   # 28 Johnboy’s fence argument is profound in its depth 15:57  |  Darth Zaider (Ed) 24/04/08
      54.   johnboy the so called syrian nuke facility 15:57  |  zevulun 24/04/08
      55.   U.S. Hearings / Truth 16:13  |  Peter 24/04/08
      56.   Jeff Northridge why we want christian quarters? 16:17  |  ELIAS KHOURY 24/04/08
      57.   Jeff Northridge again regarding Moe 16:20  |  ELIAS KHOURY 24/04/08
      58.   incidentally johnboy did you not tell the site that 16:21  |  zevulun 24/04/08
      59.   johnboy your case is indefensible 16:25  |  zevulun 24/04/08
      60.   How Olmert will apologize for not informing the IAEA 16:34  |  Tosefta 24/04/08
      61.   O Israel how doest thou suffer 16:58  |  roger wallace 24/04/08
      62.   What is likely to have happened 16:58  |  Tosefta 24/04/08
      63.   Israel fears what ? 17:21  |  Ramachandran Nair 24/04/08
      64.   For Greg Bacon #40 17:34  |  Gideon 24/04/08
      65.   Pics have been worked over in photoshop proof.. 17:58  |  Nj 24/04/08
      66.   ELIAS KHOURY # 56 I.D. Cards