Nuclear inspectors to visit Syria

BBC ^ | Monday, 2 June 2008 11:55 UK 10:55 GMT, | BBC Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nuclear inspectors to visit Syria

The US has said Syria's reactor was similar to a North Korean one

The UN nuclear agency has said that Syria is to allow inspectors to visit the country to investigate allegations that it was building a nuclear reactor.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says its inspectors are due in Syria between the 22 and 24 June.

The alleged nuclear site was bombed by Israeli jets in September 2007.

In April, the United States accused North Korea of helping Syria build a nuclear reactor that "was not intended for peaceful purposes".

	SEQUENCE OF EVENTS 6 Sept 2007: Israel bombs site in Syria 1 Oct 2007: Syria's President Assad tells BBC site was military 24 Oct 2007: New satellite images taken show site bulldozed clear 24 April 2008: US claims Syrian site was nuclear reactor Nuclear power in Middle East US claims raise wider doubts Full text: US allegations

Syria has repeatedly denied it has any nuclear weapons programme, or any such agreement with North Korea.

Officials have said the site that was bombed by Israel unused military facility under construction. Building on the site had stopped some time before the air strike, the Syrians said.

"I look forward to Syria's full co-operation in this matter," IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei told the agency's 35-nation board of governors on Monday.

In April this year, Mr ElBaradei criticised both what he saw as a US delay in releasing information on the Syrian site and Israel's bombing of the site before the IAEA could inspect it.

He repeated this on Monday without naming Israel or the US.

"It is deeply regrettable that information concerning this installation was not provided to the agency in a timely manner and that force was resorted to unilaterally before the agency was given an opportunity to establish the facts," Mr ElBaradei said.

"Nonetheless, I should emphasise that Syria, like all states with comprehensive [nuclear] safeguards agreements, has an obligation to report the planning and construction of any nuclear facility to the agency," he added.

"We are therefore treating this information with the seriousness it deserves and have been in discussions with the Syrian authorities... to verify, to the extent possible at this stage, the veracity of the information available."

The initial criticism followed a briefing by American security officials to members of the US Congress which showed evidence they said proved Syria was building a nuclear reactor with North Korean assistance.

This included pictures - said to have been obtained by Israel - allegedly taken inside the facility showing the reactor core being built.

The images showed striking similarities between the Syrian facility and the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, the US said. However, the facility was not yet operational and there was no fuel for the reactor, officials said.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Go to Web Site for Links to Additional material reference under the Time line.

[b4its2late]

The amount of time lapse between when it was bombed and when they visit gives the Syrians plenty of time to “clean it up”.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Not sure there is anything left to look at.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Looking thru the keyword list found this:

Bombed Syrian reactor was nearly complete

[Bender2]

[Enchante]

Oh, yes, Syria can welcome a tour of an obliterated facility now that the site has been totally sanitized. Since there will be absolutely nothing to see there the IAEA can issue a report saying “we found no evidence of any nuclear program in Syria” — easy whitewash.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And found this... FR Thread:

Real reason Syrian base was wiped off the map

************************EXCERPT From the Telegraph Article:**********************

Now, it appears that the Syrians are quietly helping the Iranians with their nuclear weapons programme. As part of their continuing efforts to acquire the technology to develop nuclear weapons, the Iranians have sent teams of their scientists to Pyongyang to examine the details of the North Koreans' successful nuclear test.

But with Western politicians getting more bellicose about Tehran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment programme - earlier this week, Hillary Clinton threatened to "totally obliterate" Iran - the Iranians are keen that their mutual defence pact with Syria extends into the nuclear field. Western security experts believe that many North Korean scientists who were filmed working on the Syrian project were also frequent visitors to Iran's top-secret atomic facilities.

The US satellite photographs presented to Congress yesterday demonstrated that the Syrian facility had been entirely reduced to rubble by the accuracy of the Israeli air strikes. And unless there is a radical change of policy soon in Tehran, the likelihood is that the Iranian programme will suffer a similar fate.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

One more from the keyword lists...NY Times Report:

An Israeli Strike on Syria Kindles Debate in the U.S.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I knew there was a thread about other possible sies in Syria:

Analysis: Iran's secret Syrian plan [November 19, 2007]

************************EXCERPT **********************

Posted on Fri 30 May 2008 12:50:22 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

The Syrian story is far from over: in fact, on October 23, Al Seyassah ran a story about potential new secret nuclear sites in Syria. According to Western sources cited by the paper, it is possible that Syria is developing other nuclear sites with the help of North Korea, Iran and Iraqi experts, the latter who fled their country at the start of the Iraq war in 2003. In fact, observation satellites have allegedly located in Syria at least two other sites similar to the one destroyed by Israel last month.

Iran's handwriting is all over the wall from the chemical to the nuclear arms program in Syria. Indeed, in research conducted last year as part of an article published in Washington's The Examiner, this reporter delved into Syrian's secret nuclear program, making the point that Syria might actually be "Plan B" for Iran. By helping develop nuclear sites in Syria, strikes on Iran might turn out to be useless. This was a smart strategy until Israel bombed the Syrian nuclear site on September 6 and made the world notice.

[G8 Diplomat]

Syrian nukes video

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks....seems convincing to me....Somewhere at this link there is an article that disagrees:

http://www.csis.org/burke/reports/

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Interesting PDF Document here:

Iran and the US: Key Issues from an American Perspective

[G8 Diplomat]

Interesting...thanks

[BIGLOOK]

This IAEA report ought to be interesting, Ernest. Truth is Mohamed ElBaradei couldn't find his ass with both hands and a mirror.

[Marine_Uncle]

A waste of time. The area got fully scrubbed and modified. Who is *hiting who.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just came across this report from the LWJ sidebar:

Syria to allow UN probe of alleged nuclear site

***************************************

Syria to allow UN probe of alleged nuclear site
(AP)

3 June 2008

VIENNA, Austria - Syria will allow in UN inspectors to probe allegations that a remote building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike was a nuclear reactor built secretly with North Korean help, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday.

The invitation signaled the start of an international fact check of US and Israeli assertions that Damascus had tried to build a plutonium-producing facility under the radar of the international community. It could turn into a wider probe of possible secret Syrian nuclear sites.

Syria has denied wrongdoing, asserting the attack destroyed a non-nuclear military building. Syrian officials in Damascus did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment on Monday.

IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei did not say whether inspectors would be granted access to the site during the planned June 22-24 visit, but a senior diplomat with knowledge of the planned inquiry said they would be able to visit the facility.

While steering clear of a judgment of what was hit in remarks to the agency's 35-nation board of governors, ElBaradei noted Damascus ‘has an obligation to report the planning and construction of any nuclear facility to the agency.’

Diplomats told The Associated Press that during the visit, agency officials will also ask for information on the alleged existence of at least two and possible three undeclared such facilities. The diplomats, who demanded anonymity because of the sensitivity of their information, indicated they had their knowledge either from the US or from IAEA officials.

One of them said the IAEA was following up on a US intelligence-based tip of alleged unreported facilities to process any nuclear material. The diplomat emphasized the IAEA had not seen the intelligence itself.

Plutonium reprocessing capabilities would be required if the US and Israel are correct in their claims that Syria was trying to build the reactor leveled in Syria's eastern desert in September to gain the material needed to create the fissile core of nuclear weapons.

But a nuclear expert outside the US government indicated that at least one of the facilities was suspected of processing uranium — which, like plutonium can be used for fuel or reworked into fissile warhead material. He said the IAEA asked Syria several weeks ago for access to four sites — the bombed facility and three military sites that were identified by US intelligence.

Two of the military sites are operational and one is under construction, the expert said, speaking on condition of anonymity because his information came from private discussions. US intelligence has linked one of the three sites, at least loosely, to fabricating nuclear reactor fuel from uranium, he said.

Of the four diplomats who spoke to the AP, two said the Vienna-based IAEA was looking for two undeclared nuclear sites. The others spoke of three. The Syrians have been informed about the suspicions, said one of the diplomats.

Neither the US nor Israel told the IAEA about the bombed site at Al Kibar until late April, about a year after they obtained what they considered decisive intelligence: dozens of photographs from a handheld camera of the inside and outside of the compound.

The US says the Israelis flattened the alleged reactor as it was close to startup.

Since then, Syria had not reacted to repeated agency requests for a visit to check out the allegations. Satellite photos appear to show construction crews using the interval to erect another structure over the site — a move that heightened suspicions of a possible cover-up.

Pressure on Syria to respond positively mounted with the approach of the latest meeting of the IAEA board that opened Monday.

One of the diplomats, who is familiar with the communications between Syrian and agency officials, said that Damascus apparently waited until the weekend to issue an invitation.

In announcing the Syrian visit to the board, ElBaradei repeated his criticism of Israel and the U.S., taking Washington to task for waiting so long to brief him on its suspicions, and Jerusalem for its airstrike.

Diplomats have recently suggested that the Americans may have waited even longer, telling the AP that Washington may have had indications of Syrian plans more than five years ago. They demanded anonymity because their information was confidential.

‘It is deeply regrettable that information concerning this installation was not provided to the agency in a timely manner and that force was resorted to unilaterally before the agency was given an opportunity to establish the facts,’ ElBaradei said.

His comments to the closed meeting were made available to reporters.

ElBaradei was also outspoken on Iran, in connection with the agency's investigation of activities that point to a possible secret weapons program, repeating comments he first made in a report last week with even more clarity.

‘It is regrettable that we have not made the progress we had hoped for’ on the allegations over Iran's nuclear program, he said, adding that the alleged activities ‘remain a matter of serious concern.’

ElBaradei said Iran had not provided the agency with ‘all the access to documents and to individuals requested’ nor had it given ‘substantive explanations’ to supports its statements.

‘Such clarifications are critical to an assessment of the nature of Iran's past and present nuclear program,’ he said.

Iran denies ever trying to make weapons. It is under three sets of UN sanctions for refusing to freeze uranium enrichment.

[Marine_Uncle]

Good summary. Syria got it's fingers caught in the cookie jar, and now have to pretend to want to cooperate.
And the IAEA is fully aware it can no longer play dumb, because the US and others keep careful track of just who is doing what from spy sats, ground spies etc..
They have to pretend that they are being serious. At least that is my take on it.