IAEA Investigates Syrian Nuclear Capability

The International Atomic Energy Agency is investigating whether Syria may have obtained nuclear technology through the international nuclear smuggling network headed by former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, May 27).

Intelligence reports indicate that Khan visited Syria during the late 1990s and met secretly with Syrian nuclear officials in Iran, said Western diplomats. In addition, a U.S. experimental electronic monitoring device recently detected signals that Syria may be operating uranium enrichment centrifuges, according to the Times.

Syria’s representative to the agency in Vienna did not respond to requests for comment, the Times reported. Both the agency and the U.S. State Department declined to comment on the allegations.

While agency may be considering Syria as a possible client of the international nuclear network, investigators found no evidence that Khan visited Syria or provided it with nuclear technology, said a senior European diplomat. Some U.S. officials and other Western diplomats have said that the information linking Syria to the nuclear network is not conclusive (Douglas Frantz, Los Angeles Times,June 24).

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