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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria: Damascus vows to work with nuclear watchdog
2009-06-20
[ADN Kronos] A Syrian government representative on Friday reiterated that the site bombed by Israel in 2007 is not a nuclear facility and said Damascus would cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"Al-Kiber military facility that was attacked by Israel back in 2007 is by no means used in nuclear activities," said Syria's representative at the IAEA, Ibrahim Othman during a media conference.

Othman, however, said that Israel should undergo an IAEA investigation to ensure the region was free of nuclear weapons.

Israel neither acknowledges nor denies having nuclear weapons. However it is believed that Israel's nuclear arsenal contains between 80 and 200 weapons.

According to Othman, the Syrian Research Centre's nuclear plant is not capable of enriching uranium as it only has a capability of 30 kilowatts. He also said the plant is used for neutron activation and other research that are not related to nuclear energy.

In line with Syria's 2006 agreement with the IAEA, the plant was being supervised by the agency, Othman added.

Syria has reaffirmed several times that the plant bombed by Israel at al-Kibar in the country's eastern desert was a traditional plant, and denied that it was a nuclear facility under construction.

Last year, the IAEA said a "significant" number of particles of man-made uranium had been found at the facility. It also said it had found more man-made uranium at the site and Syria would need to explain how it got there.

An Israeli intelligence operation penetrated the suspected Syrian nuclear programme, which photographs appearing to show it had been undertaken with North Korean assistance delivered by sea.
Posted by:Fred

#1  "We will work with the IAEA, as long as nobody more effective than El-Baradei is in charge"
Posted by: Frank G   2009-06-20 09:39  

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