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Washington: Independent experts have pinpointed what they believe to be the Euphrates River site in Syria that was bombed by Israel last month.
Satellite imagery of the area shows buildings under construction roughly similar in design to a North Korean reactor capable of producing nuclear material for one bomb a year, experts say.
Photographs of the site taken before the secret September 6 airstrike depict an isolated compound that includes a tall, boxy structure similar to the type of building used to house a gas-graphite reactor. They also show what could have been a pumping station used to supply cooling water for a reactor, say experts David Albright and Paul Brannan of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).
US and international experts and officials familiar with the site, who were shown the photographs on Tuesday, said there was a strong and credible possibility that they depict the remote compound that was attacked. Israeli officials and the White House declined to comment.
If the facility is confirmed as the site of the attack, the photos provide a potential explanation for Israel's middle-of-the-night bombing raid.
The facility is located seven miles north of the desert village of At Tibnah, in the Dayr Al Zawr region, and about 90 miles from the Iraqi border, according to the ISIS report which was to be released yesterday.
Albright, a former UN weapons inspector, said the size of the structures suggested that Syria might have been building a gas-graphite reactor of about 20 to 25 megawatts of heat, similar to the reactor North Korea built at Yongbyon.
"I'm pretty convinced that Syria was trying to build a nuclear reactor," Albright said in an interview. He said the project would represent a significant departure from past policies. ISIS, a nonprofit research group, tracks nuclear weapons and stockpiles around the world.
Israel, which has nuclear weapons of its own, has not said publicly what its warplanes hit or provided justification for the raid. Syria has denied having a nuclear programme. But beginning construction of a nuclear reactor in secret would violate Syria's obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires all signatories to declare their intent when such a decision is made, according to IAEA sources.
The new report leaves many questions unanswered, such as what Syria intended to use the unfinished structures for and the exact role, if any, of North Korea in its construction. Also unclear is why Israel chose to use military force rather than diplomatic pressure against a facility that could not have produced significant nuclear material for years. The new details could fuel debate over whether Israel's attack was warranted.
Syrian official dismisses report
A Syrian foreign ministry official yesterday denied reports that satellite images taken of a site struck by Israeli warplanes last month showed it might have been a nuclear facility, saying they are part of a campaign of accusations targeting Syria.
The renewed denial follows the publication of some news reports that quote experts as saying that satellite imagery taken before the secret September 6 airstrike showed buildings under construction similar in design to a North Korean reactor capable of producing nuclear material.
United Nations diplomats last week told The Associated Press that UN experts have begun analysing satellite imagery of the Syrian site, disclosing what amounts to the first independent look at reports that Damascus was hiding a nuclear facility. It was unclear where the material was obtained or what exactly it showed.
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