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Al-Kibar

Last Modified: Aug. 1, 2010
Other Name: Dair Alzour
Location: Dayr Az Zawr region, approx. 140km from the Iraqi border and 10km north of At Tibnah
Subordinate To: Unknown
Size: Unknown
Facility Status: Unknown

The current function and status of the Al-Kibar site is unknown. However, Syrian officials have asserted that Damascus constructed a missile facility at Al-Kibar after the original building's destruction by the Israeli Air Force in 2007. [1] Experts widely believe that Syria had been building a nuclear reactor for the clandestine production of weapons-useable plutonium at the site, although the IAEA has been unable to conclusively determine this given Damascus's refusal to permit the agency additional access to the site. [2] [For additional details regarding the alleged reactor, see NTI Syria Nuclear Facilities, Al-Kibar]. Ibrahim Othman, Syria's nuclear chief, has reportedly asserted that the new facility at Al-Kibar is a missile control facility or launching pad. [3]

Sources:
[1] "Syria puts missile center on reactor site," AP, 25 February 2009.
[2] Ephraim Asculai, "Inspecting Syria's Al-Kibar Reactor Site: A Technical Note," Institute for Science and International Security, 12 May 2008, www.isis-online.org.
[3] "Bombed Syrian reactor now missile base," The Jerusalem Post, 25 February 2009.

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This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, or agents. Copyright © 2011 by MIIS.

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