18 June 2008 - 21H08
North Korea may have hand in Syrian nuclear site
The French newspaper Le Monde claims that the IAEA has information pointing to a North Korean link to a suspected Syrian nuclear site, bombed by Israel last September. (Report by Meriem Amellal and Armen Georgian)
Syria's suspected nuclear site, destroyed by an Israeli air raid last September, is once again under the microscope.
The French daily, Le Monde, has published a report on the Al Kibar facility, confirming earlier US reports of a North Korean connection.
The paper claims the UN's nuclear watchdog has information from several non-American sources that point to Pyongyang's involvement.
Le Monde says that information includes satellite images provided by various countries.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is to start inspecting Al Kibar next week. Part of its work will be to investigate on US intelligence alleging that Damascus had secretly built a nuclear reactor.
It's tight-lipped on the alleged link to North Korea. The agency's director, Mohammed El Baradei, also says he has no proof of a secret Syrian nuclear programme.
If it turns out the IAEA failed to spot such a programme, the watchdog's credibility could take a hit.
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Comments (1)
Syria
North Korea did help Syria build the reactor at Al Kibar but was not able to provide any fuel for it.
See my article in the London Review of Books June 19 on
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/physics/profile737.html