US shows evidence of alleged Syria-N. Korea nuke collaboration
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top U.S. official says the Syrian nuclear reactor allegedly built with North Korean design help and destroyed last year by Israeli jets was within weeks or months of being functional.
The official says the facility was mostly completed but still needed significant testing before it could be declared operational. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
No uranium — the fuel for a reactor — was evident at the site.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top member of the House intelligence committee said classified information being shared with members of Congress Thursday shows that an alleged Syrian nuclear reactor built with North Korean help and destroyed last year by Israeli jets threatened to spread nuclear weapons technology.
"This is a serious proliferation issue, both for the Middle East and the countries that may be involved in Asia," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich.
The Syrian reactor was similar in design to a North Korean reactor that has in the past produced small amounts of plutonium, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information. The reactor was not yet complete but was far enough along to demonstrate a resemblance to the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon.
The official said no uranium — the fuel for a reactor — was evident on site.
CIA Director Michael Hayden and other intelligence officials went to Capitol Hill to brief Congress on the evidence related to the bombed Syrian facility, scheduling appearances before the House and Senate armed services, intelligence and foreign affairs committees.
Hoekstra and Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, told reporters after the closed meeting that they were angry that the Bush administration had delayed briefing the full committee for eight months.
"There's not a clear and compelling case as to why this information is being made available to the committee today. There has been no change in circumstances as to the reasons why we were not told eight months ago," Hoekstra said.
Bush's failure to keep Congress informed has created friction that may imperil congressional support for Bush's policies toward North Korea and Syria.
That makes it "very difficult for them to move forward any policy initiatives in the Middle East or Asia any time soon," Hoekstra added.
The reactor site has been veiled in secrecy until this week, with U.S. intelligence and government officials refusing to confirm until now suspicions that the site was to be a nuclear reactor.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said the Bush administration would issue a public statement later in the day.
The administration has thus far refused to reveal why it chose to release the information now, but the briefings come at a critical time in the diplomatic effort to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons.
As part of that process, the North is required to submit a "declaration" detailing its programs and proliferation activity, but the talks are stalled over Pyongyang's refusal to publicly admit the Syria connection. However, officials say the North Koreans are willing to accept international "concern" about unspecified proliferation.
By disclosing North Korean-Syrian cooperation to Congress, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog and the public, the administration may have overcome that impasse by giving North Korea a "concern" that it can acknowledge in the declaration.
North Korea was aware that the administration would be releasing the information and its Foreign Ministry said Thursday that a visit to Pyongyang this week by a U.S. delegation to discuss the declaration made progress. It did not elaborate.
At the same time, the administration's release of the intelligence shines light on alleged malfeasance by Syria, which has signed an international treaty requiring it to disclose nuclear interests and activity, and vindicates Israel's decision to destroy the suspect site.
Syria has not declared the alleged reactor to the International Atomic Energy Agency nor was it under international safeguards, possibly putting Syria in breech of an international nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
In the Syrian capital of Damascus, legislator Suleiman Haddad, who heads the parliament's foreign relations committee, told The Associated Press that the videotape does not deserve a response.
"America is looking for any problem in order to accuse Syria," Haddad said by telephone. "Do we need Korean workers to work in Syria?"
"It is regretful to say that America is putting us among its enemies and therefore this talk (at Congress) does not deserve a response. America is trying to create an atmosphere of war in the region," Haddad said. He did not elaborate.
Israeli warplanes bombed the site in Syria on Sept. 6, 2007. Private analysts said at the time it appeared to have been the site of a reactor, based on commercial satellite imagery taken after the raid. Syria later razed the site. A new, larger building has been constructed in its place.
House Foreign Affairs Middle East Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., sharply criticized the administration for the delay in the release of the information and the press leaks surrounding it.
"This is the selective control of information that led us to war in Iraq," he said.
U.S. officials were also briefing members of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, at its Vienna headquarters.
John Rood, the under secretary of state for arms control, called IAEA chief Mohamed elBaradei on Thursday morning to detail the presentation and an interagency intelligence team was in Vienna to brief IAEA representatives either Thursday or Friday, a senior U.S. official said.
The revelation of alleged North Korean cooperation with Syria comes at a sensitive time for Pyongyang.
Associated Press Writers Barry Schweid, Matthew Lee, Edith Lederer, and Bassem Mroueh contributed to this report.