Syria allows probe of alleged nuclear site
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - June 2, 2008 IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei did not say whether his inspectors
would be granted access to the site during the planned June 22-24
visit. But a senior diplomat familiar with the details of the
planned visit said agency personnel had been told they could visit
the facility. The diplomat said agency experts were also interested
in two other locations with possible undeclared nuclear facilities.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the matter, told The Associated Press that agency
experts will be asking for information on the possible existence of
two plutonium reprocessing facilities.
Syrian officials in Damascus did not immediately return phone
calls seeking comment.
Syria would need plutonium reprocessing capabilities if it were
- as the U.S. and Israel charge - trying to build produce material
for the fissile core of nuclear weapons.
Another diplomat familiar with the IAEA trip plans said there
were three other possible nuclear sites about which the IAEA was
seeking information.
A third diplomat briefed on the IAEA plans for the trip said the
agency had been informed about the possible additional sites by the
U.S. That diplomat said the IAEA had not seen the U.S. intelligence
itself.
The Syrians have already been informed about the additional
suspicions, said the third diplomat.
The Israelis carried out the airstrike against the Syrian site
in September. Neither the United States nor Israel gave the IAEA
information about the site until late April, about a year after
they obtained what they considered to be decisive intelligence:
dozens of photographs from a handheld camera that showed both the
interior and exterior of the compound in Syria's eastern desert.
Since that time, Syria had not reacted to repeated agency
requests for a visit to check out the allegations, using the
interval to erect another structure over the site - a move that
heightened suspicions of a possible cover-up.
ElBaradei repeated his criticism of Israel and the United States
in announcing the Syrian visit, taking Washington to task for
waiting so long to brief him on its suspicions, and Jerusalem for
its air strike.
"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 noted that Syria "has an obligation to report the
planning and construction of any nuclear facility to the agency."
ElBaradei also reiterated criticism for withholding full
cooperation with the IAEA's probe of activities that point to a
possible clandestine weapons program.
"It is regrettable that we have not made the progress we had
hoped for," he said, adding that the alleged activities "remain a
matter of serious concern."
"Iran has not provided the agency with all the access to
documents and to individuals requested ... nor has Iran provided
the substantive explanations required to support its statements,"
he said. "Such clarifications are critical to an assessment of the
nature of Iran's past and present nuclear program."
ElBaradei also said his agency "understands that Iran may have
additional information" it was withholding from IAEA experts - an
allegation also made in his report last week to the agency board
and the U.N. Security Council.
Since launching its probe into the allegations last year, the
International Atomic Energy Agency has asked in vain for
substantive explanations for what seem to be draft plans to refit
missiles with nuclear warheads; explosives tests that could be used
for a nuclear detonation; military and civilian nuclear links and a
drawing showing how to mold uranium metal into the shape of
warheads.
Iran remains defiant, dismissing evidence from the U.S. and
other board members purportedly backing the allegations as
fabricated.
It is also under fire for defying three sets of Security Council
sanctions and continuing to enrich uranium - a process that can
generate both nuclear fuel and the fissile material for the core of
nuclear warheads.