North Korea, Syria Possibly Building Nuclear Installation

Satellite images and other intelligence acquired by the United States over the last six months has suggested to some U.S. officials that North Korea might be helping to build a nuclear installation inside Syria, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Sept. 12).

Provided largely by Israel, the intelligence has been restricted to a handful of high-level officials under orders from national security adviser Stephen Hadley, leaving other members of the U.S. intelligence community unsure of its implications, according to sources.

Some satellite images indicate development of a plant for production of material that could be used in nuclear weapons, according to some U.S. officials.

Some of the sources expressed skepticism that North Korea and Syria would work together on nuclear development although they have collaborated in the past on missile programs.  They warned that analysts frequently re-evaluate early indications of unusual activity.

One North Korean negotiator threatened the “transfer” of nuclear materials to other countries in a private talk with his U.S. counterpart on the sidelines of March 2003 discussions in Beijing.  U.S. President George W. Bush has warned against such a transfer.

Israel conducted an air strike inside Syria last week.  While Israeli officials have not disclosed any details of the raid, a former official reported being told that the strikes were carried out against a facility able to produce unconventional weapons.

Others have said that the Israeli air strike aimed to destroy weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon or that it was intended to test Syrian air defense capabilities ahead of a strike on Iran.

While Syria has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, it has not agreed to more extensive inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency under the Additional Protocol.

“Although Syria has long been cited as posing a nuclear proliferation risk, the country seems to have been too strapped for cash to get far,” said GlobalSecurity.org, a Web site that covers weapons of mass destruction-related issues (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Sept. 13).

“The suspicion is that North Korea is outsourcing uranium enrichment to Damascus,” a U.S. diplomatic source told the New York Post.

An Israeli-Arab newspaper reported that the Israeli air strike destroyed a joint Iranian-Syrian missile installation in northern Syria, the Post reported today.  The base, which was reportedly financed by Iran, appeared to be “completely destroyed,” the newspaper a-Sinara said (Andy Soltis, New York Post, Sept. 13).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.