Report: Satellite images show construction in Syria resembles North Korean nuclear reactor

AP via IHT ^ | October 24, 2007 | Staff

[Schnucki]

CAIRO, Egypt: Commercial satellite images show construction in Syria that resembles the early stages of a small North Korean-model nuclear reactor, a report said, speculating that it was the site hit last month by an Israeli airstrike.

The photos, taken nearly a month before the Sept. 6 strike, show a tall box-like building near the Euphrates River that the report said was similar in shape to a North Korean five-megawatt reactor building in Yongbyon.

It cautioned that the Syrian building was "not far enough along in its construction to make a definitive comparison." The photo also shows a smaller building that the report says appears to be a pump station, which would be needed to provide water to cool a reactor.

The report released Wednesday was written by David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear inspector and now head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, and researcher Paul Brannan.

In Damascus, a Syrian Foreign Ministry official denied the satellite photos in the report showed a nuclear reactor.

"Syria strongly denies the reports that the targeted site is a nuclear facility," the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. The official described the reports as "part of a continuing campaign of accusations against Syria."

Syria has repeatedly denied it is building a nuclear facility, and President Bashar Assad has said that Israel bombed an "unused military building" in the raid.

The Israeli airstrike has been shrouded in mystery. Israel has been extremely secretive about the incident, only recently relaxing censorship to allow Israel-based journalists to report that its aircraft attacked a military target deep inside Syria.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Saw the photos a few hours ago.