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UN: Syria must explain reactor By Amos Harel, Yossi Melman and Yoav Stern Defense Minister Ehud Barak postponed a trip to Washington scheduled to begin today in the wake of Thursday's CIA briefing to Congress over Israel's September 2007 airstrike on a Syrian nuclear installation. Barak was slated to meet with senior U.S. officials including Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during the two-day visit. Advertisement Barak made the decision a few days ago. The postponement is aimed at avoiding the impression that his meetings were in any way connected to the U.S. decision to disclosure information on the Syrian facility. Sources close to Barak also cited his desire to closely follow developments in talks over a cease-fire with Hamas as a reason for the deferment. Meanwhile, Israeli officials yesterday said their concerns that the CIA briefing would lead to a rise in tensions with Syria were proved groundless, but military officials nevertheless expect Israel's northern border to remain tense in the near term. Israeli military censors are refraining from censoring reports over the airstrike originating from foreign news sources. In the days directly before the Congressional briefing Israel Defense Forces and intelligence officials were asked not to leak information on the operation. Assad: Building was empty International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said yesterday he would ask Syria for explanations regarding photos published by the U.S. of the installation bombed by Israel in northern Syria that suggest it was a nuclear facility. The IAEA head chided Israel for attacking the installation because it "destroyed evidence" and would hamper his group's efforts to gather information on the facility. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad over the weekend reiterated his insistence that the facility was not a nuclear reactor. In an official statement, Syria accused the U.S. of carrying out a "fabricated and defaming" campaign. Earlier, the U.S. had released a series of satellite images as well as photos secretly taken from within the installation, which analysts claim prove it was a nuclear reactor. ElBaradei said he would ask Syria to account for the claims about the photos, since as a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty Syria must inform the IAEA about the construction of nuclear facilities. IAEA chef blasts U.S. The IAEA head lamented the decision by Israel and the U.S. not to convey information about the facility to his organization before the strike. He said that in that event the IAEA could have initiated a proper investigation into the allegations. The IAEA communique said the Israeli decision undermined "the due process of verification that is at the heart of the non-proliferation regime." Assad insisted that the facility was an "empty military installation," not a nuclear reactor. "It was an unfinished facility that had nothing in it. It was in fact empty." Assad said he was bewildered by accusations it was part of a clandestine nuclear program. "A nuclear plant exposed to satellites in an open area in the heart of the Syrian desert?," he was quoted by the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan as saying. The paper will run a full interview with the Syrian president tomorrow. Syria has officially denied any ties of nuclear cooperation with North Korea, which allegedly helped in building the facility. In an official press release, the Syrian government said the U.S. was trying to sway congressional and world opinion against it. Syria's ambassador to the U.S., Imad Mousthapa, rejected U.S. claims yesterday, saying accusations that the installation was a nuclear facility were "products of the imagination." Three photos provide proof Three photos presented by the CIA over the weekend indicate the installation was a nuclear reactor. One picture displays what is said to be the core reactor, a large steel structure 10 meters high and eight to 10 meters in diameter and connected to a cooling system. A steel lid intended to cover and insulate the reactor is seen nearby. The core and lid are both located inside the facility in order to prevent detection by satellite cameras. Another image shows circular holes allegedly designed for uranium fuel rods. Another photo shows the head of the Syrian atomic energy agency in the company of a North Korean nuclear expert wearing blue overalls. CIA officials said the Korean was in charge of constructing the nuclear plant. A vehicle nearby clearly carries a Syrian license plate. The exact location in Syria where the photo was taken was not disclosed; it was not at or near the facility. A separate photo, taken during talks over the nuclear disarmament of North Korea, shows the same official attending on behalf of Pyongyang. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Survivors and pioneers Yad Vashem exhibit shows how Holocaust survivors helped shape Israel's identity Researching bacon Lahav's pig breeding gained widespread notoriety because of its legal loophole.

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