Wednesday May 7, 2008
IAEA chief hopes for clarity on Syria facility soon
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday he hoped his agency would be able to shed light in the next few weeks on whether a Syrian facility bombed by Israel last year was an undeclared atomic reactor.
The United States released intelligence last month that it said showed Syria built a reactor with North Korean help before Israeli warplanes destroyed it last September. Damascus has denied the accusations.
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International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei seen at Vienna's U.N. headquarters in this April 25, 2008 file photo. (REUTERS/Herwig Prammer) |
Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the IAEA was in contact with Syria to verify the U.S. intelligence and recalled Damascus's obligation to report any nuclear activities to the agency.
"I hope that in the next few weeks we will be able to shed some light on the nature of the facility that was destroyed," he told reporters after talks with EU officials in Brussels.
"Syria has an obligation to notify the agency if they are, if they were, building any nuclear reactors," he said. Damascus has not granted U.N. inspectors access to the area despite several requests since September, diplomats say.
The U.S. material included photos and other information the CIA said showed the facility's potential for nuclear weapons purposes.
Syria has said the information was forged, comparing it with U.S. reports of mass destruction weapons hidden in Iraq which were never found after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein.
Damascus has instead accused Washington of involvement in the air attack by Israel, a staunch U.S. ally widely believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal.
Syria has repeatedly sparred with the United States and Western allies over the matter at a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review meeting under way in Geneva.
The IAEA and others have criticised the United States for waiting until last month to share its intelligence, and analysts have raised questions over whether the U.S. material amounted to proof of any undeclared arms programme.
Diplomats close to the IAEA say it will be much harder to uncover evidence now than it would have been before the attack.
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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