Nuclear Syria

Nuclear Questions Aimed at Syria

September 26, 2007

Prepared by:	Eben Kaplan

An Israeli airstrike in Syria has raised questions about a potential nuclear target (AP Images/Str/HO)

Shortly after North Korea blasted its way into the ranks of the “nuclear club” last October, President Bush issued a stern warning about the prospect of Pyongyang as a proliferator: “The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable.” Nearly a year later, a mysterious Israeli air strike (NYT) on Syria September 6 raised speculation that North Korea may be doing just that. The United States has not commented on the issue; President Bush repeatedly refused to discuss the matter when pressed by reporters.

What occurred on September 6 remains unclear, but the most prominent (WSJ) theory suggests Israel destroyed a nascent Syrian nuclear facility built with North Korean assistance. According to a widely cited account in the Times of London quoting Israeli defense sources, Israeli commandos nabbed nuclear material from a secret Syrian compound in advance of the strike to prove its North Korean origin. The air strike went ahead, the report claims, after the evidence satisfied skeptics in Washington. In an interview with Newsweek, Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha claims the Israeli strike fell on “wasteland” and calls allegations of North Korean nuclear support “ridiculous and untrue.” Little public evidence exists to confirm any account of the incident. For its part, Israel has remained tight-lipped about the air raid, in stark contrast to its jubilation after a similar raid (BBC) in 1981 on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor. The United States, which offered early confirmation that a strike of some kind occurred, had said little since, though the Washington Post reports the two nations shared intelligence on the alleged Syrian site in advance of the strike.

With the specter of nuclear terrorism a principal U.S. security concern, the prospect of Syria—a designated state sponsor of terrorism —entering the nuclear fray is worrisome. The Proliferation Security Initiative, a multilateral program aimed at identifying and intercepting illegal nuclear shipments, is designed to prevent such transfers. But in a world awash (NYT) in nuclear material, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonproliferation advocacy group, warns these efforts may be insufficient (PDF).

More at Source: CFR

Was the nuclear material stolen , N. Korean Nuke scientists?