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Description: Russia and Syria have reportedly entered negotiations for the construction of a $2 billion nuclear facility in Syria. While stating that no agreement has been reached, the head of Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) confirmed that the discussion over supplying Syria with a nuclear power plant and a seawater atomic desalination plant is taking place.[1] A spokesman for Russian Foreign Ministry, however, denied that any discussion of the construction of a nuclear plant in Syria had even taken place.[2]

Sources:
[1] Andrew Jack, Stephen Fidler and Roula Khalaf, "Russia in talks to build Syrian nuclear reactor," Financial Times, 16 January 2003.
[2] "Russian Nuclear Assistance to Syria: Scam or Scandal?" Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 1, January 2003, <http://www.meib.org/articles/0301_s1.htm>.

	Updated August 2003