UN team head says more follow-up needed on allegations Syria hid nuclear program

[Scurrilous]

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"An initial probe of U.S. allegations that a Syrian site hit by Israeli warplanes was a secretly built nuclear reactor is inconclusive and further checks are necessary, a senior U.N. atomic inspector said Wednesday.

Olli Heinonen, a deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said he was satisfied with what was achieved on his three-day trip but "there is still work that needs to be done" in following up on the claims that Syria was hiding elements of a potential nuclear arms program.

Heinonen spoke to reporters on arrival from a flight from Damascus back to Vienna, Austria, headquarters of his International Atomic Energy Agency. He met in the Syrian capital with officials in charge of the nation's nuclear program and senior Syrian generals, in keeping with claims by Damascus that the building flattened by Israel was a non-nuclear military object."

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"But Heinonen declined to tip his cards on what he and his team had been able to see and do beyond acknowledging that they were able to take environmental samples in the area designed to capture traces of material that were likely spread over a large area by Israeli ordinance.

"We achieved what we wanted on this first trip," he said. "We continue our discussions, we took the samples we need to take and now it's time to analyze them and also look at the information we got from Syria."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/25/europe/EU-GEN-Nuclear-Syria.php