Syria 'builds missile facility on ruins of destroyed nuclear reactor'

[bemildred]

Diplomats said the new structure at the Al Kibar site appeared to be a missile control centre or actual launch pad.

Israel bombed the site in September 2007. While the Jewish state has not commented on the strike, Washington subsequently presented intelligence purporting to show that the target in a remote area of the Syrian Desert was a nearly finished nuclear reactor built with North Korean help that would have been able to produce plutonium once completed.

Syria has denied secret nuclear activities but has blocked IAEA inspectors from visits beyond an initial inspection to the Al Kibar site.

Environmental samples from that trip have revealed traces of man-made uranium and graphite. But UN officials say it is too early to say whether the graphite – a common element in North Korean prototype reactors – had any nuclear applications.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/4802080/Syria-builds-missile-facility-on-ruins-of-destroyed-nuclear-reactor.html

[bemildred]

1. Syria Says Disputed Site Has Missiles

A suspected Syrian nuclear site bombed by Israel has been converted to a military installation for firing missiles, a Syrian delegate told diplomats in Vienna at a Tuesday meeting of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency.

The statement, which took many in the room by surprise, came during a discussion of inspections of the site by the International Atomic Energy Agency, said a Vienna-based diplomat.

IAEA investigators took soil samples in June in an effort to determine whether there was nuclear development at the site as Israel has alleged. An IAEA report last week said the samples has unexplained traces of low enriched uranium used in nuclear fuel.

The report received wide coverage in Israel. Israel believes Syria has secretly supported Hamas and Hezbollah militants who attacked Israel with missiles. A Syrian nuclear program, if confirmed, could further destabilize the Middle East.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123550357624561941.html?mod=