Free Republic

Damascus, 1 Dec. (AKI) - Dozens of officials from North Korea and Iran have conducted meetings with representatives of the Syrian government in Damascus to help president Bashar al-Assad obtain weapons following the implementation of sanctions by members of the Arab League and other countries. The meetings have been taking place in recent days, and were attended by experts in the production of rockets, according to Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah, citing unnamed intelligence sources. "The Syrian regime is afraid of losing power so is asking help from these two allies to put in place whatever means are necessary, even if it...

The United Nations Nuke Watchdog, IAEA director Dr. Mohammed El-Baradei has a history of appeasing terrorist powers looking to become nuclear, for example: For over three years, the quarterly IAEA reports on Iran contained the details of violations, obstruction of inspector's visits, important inconsistencies between official claims and the results of tests from samples taken from various facilities, and other forms of non-compliance. But the final assessment in each report, signed by the director-general, absurdly concluded that this evidence did not demonstrate that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons.....This process delayed the imposition of sanctions that might have dissuaded Iran from...

The UN watchdog agency on nuclear activity has found that Iran has significantly stepped up its nuclear program, and also suspects Syria of secretly operating its own nuclear program. Iran has increased its output of uranium with almost 5,000 centrifuges operating, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated in a report Friday. According to the report obtained by the Reuters news agency, Iran has increased its enrichment of uranium, boosting its stockpile by 500 kilograms to 1,339 kilograms in the past six months.

Swiss daily says retired Revolutionary Guards general Ali Reza Asghari told US Intelligence Tehran was financing secret nuclear project of Syria and North Korea; 'Israelis who were immediately informed also were completely unaware,' according to report. A top-ranked Iranian defector told the United States that Iran was financing North Korean moves to make Syria into a nuclear weapons power, leading to the Israeli air strike that destroyed a secret reactor, a report said Thursday. The article in the daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung goes into detail about an Iranian connection and fills in gaps about Israel's Sept. 6, 2007, raid that...

Syria has revealed that it has built a missile facility over the ruins of what the US says was a nuclear reactor destroyed by IAF warplanes, diplomats said Tuesday. A satellite photo from Sept.... The diplomats quoted Syrian nuclear chief Ibrahim Othman as saying during a closed meeting Tuesday that the new structure appeared to be a missile control center or actual launching pad. They demanded anonymity for divulging details about what Othman told the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board. The IAF reportedly bombed the site in September 2007. While Israel has not commented on the strike, Washington subsequently...

Syria has indicated that it has built a missile facility on the site of an alleged nuclear reactor that IAF warplanes reportedly bombed, diplomats said Tuesday. A satellite photo from Sept. 16, 2003, shows a large structure being built near a site in Syria. Photo: GeoEye/SIME/ NY Times Slideshow: Pictures of the week The diplomats cited Syrian nuclear chief Ibrahim Othman as telling a closed meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency about the facility. The diplomats said that the facility appeared to be either a missile control center or an actual launching pad. They demanded anonymity for reporting on...

When Yasser Arafat first addressed the U.N. General Assembly in November 1974, he told the world body he came bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. "Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand," stated the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, at that time still considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. Today, the odds have increased. The gun has been replaced by nuclear warheads. Despite a mysterious air raid by the Israeli air force last Sept. 6 on what it said was a nuclear processing facility in the Syrian desert, Damascus...

WASHINGTON, April 29 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: TO BE LED) President George W. Bush said Tuesday the recent U.S. disclosure of North Korea's alleged transfer of nuclear technology to Syria was intended to sound a tough warning to Iran of its nuclear aspirations. Bush made the remarks at a White House press conference.

CIA Director Michael Hayden said Monday that the alleged Syrian nuclear reactor destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in September would have produced enough plutonium for one or two bombs within a year of becoming operational. U.S. intelligence and administration officials publicly disclosed last week their assessment that Syria was building a covert nuclear reactor with North Korean assistance. They said it was modeled on the shuttered North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, which produced a small amount of plutonium. The Syrian site, they said, was within weeks or months of being operational. "In the course of a year after they got...

Ten North Koreans were killed in an IAF air strike on a Syria installation September, Bloomberg reported Monday, quoting an NHK report that cited unidentified South Korean intelligence officials. The report quoted a Japanese broadcaster who said that they had been assisting the Syrians in the construction of a nuclear reactor. Several North Korean workers survived the air strike, the report said. Yielding to months of pressure from the US Congress, the Bush administration gave members briefings on Thursday indicating that on September 6, Israel destroyed an alleged Syrian nuclear reactor built with North Korean help.

At the moment America has disclosed to the world Israel's success in ending a North Korea-aided nuclear weapons project in the Syrian desert, the Syrians are saying Prime Minister Olmert will relinquish the Golan Heights. The Israelis are offering no public comment. But Syria's expatriates minister, Buthaina Shaaban, told Al-Jazeera that the Israeli premier had instructed Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to deliver the message. "Olmert is ready for peace with Syria on the grounds of the return of the Golan Heights in full to Syria," she told the Arab satellite network. The interview aired before the White House...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If President George W. Bush wants to make progress on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions before he leaves office next year, he first has to close the deal with Congress. The White House took a step to try to win congressional support on Thursday by laying out intelligence alleging that North Korea helped Syria to build a nuclear reactor that U.S. officials say was destroyed by Israel on September 6. The White House initially tried to keep the matter secret, fearing Damascus might be embarrassed by a public airing of the strike -- and the fact that...

The reasons are twofold. When the Israelis first became concerned about the North Koreans' activities in Syria last summer, the Americans were negotiating a delicate deal to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programme in return for a relaxation of the trade sanctions that have crippled the North Korean economy. Had the Israelis gone public with the intelligence that the North Koreans were actively helping Syria to acquire nuclear technology, it might seriously have undermined Washington's diplomatic efforts. If the Americans want to expose North Korea's links to Damascus, that is their affair. For their part, the Israelis are...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Syria's ambassador to the United States said Friday that the CIA fabricated pictures allegedly taken inside a secret Syrian nuclear reactor and predicted that in the coming weeks the U.S. story about the site would "implode from within.""The photos presented to me yesterday were ludicrous, laughable," Ambassador Imad Moustapha told reporters at his Washington residence.However, he refused to say what the building in the remote eastern desert of Syria was used for before Israeli jets bombed it in September 2007.Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday they believe it was a secret nuclear reactor meant to produce plutonium,...

Syria 'had covert nuclear scheme' The US says there were similarities between the Syrian and North Korean reactors The United States has accused North Korea of helping Syria build a nuclear reactor that "was not intended for peaceful purposes". The site, said to be like one in North Korea, was bombed by Israel in 2007. Syria must "come clean" about its secret nuclear programme, the White House said in a statement after CIA officials briefed members of Congress. Syria has repeated denials that it has any nuclear weapons programme, or any such agreement with North Korea. Syrian officials have...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2008 – Syria’s building of a secret nuclear facility with North Korean help reinforces the need to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. “It should serve as a reminder to us all of the very real dangers of proliferation and need to rededicate ourselves to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, particularly into the hands of a state or a group with terrorist connections,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said during a Pentagon briefing. The reactor, destroyed by Israel in September before it...

The Bush administration released detailed photographic images on Thursday to support its assertion that the building in Syria that Israel destroyed in an airstrike last year was a nuclear reactor constructed with years of help from North Korea. The administration said it withheld the pictures for seven months out of fear that Syria could retaliate against Israel and start a broader war in the Middle East. The photographs taken inside the reactor before it was destroyed in an air raid on Sept. 6 clearly show the rods that control the heat in a nuclear reactor, one of many close engineering...

Qatari newspaper al-Watan reports of Syrian preparations against Israeli strike during coming summer; says Israel looking to May, June as possible window for attack Roee Nahmias Published: 04.14.08, 15:00 / Israel News VIDEO - Is Syria preparing for war? Qatar's al-Watan newspaper reported Monday that political and media sources in Damascus expressed concerns that war may breakout between Israel and Syria before long. Video courtesy of infolive.tv According to the report, the nationwide emergency drill held by Damascus in response to a similar drill held by Israel last week, is one of the preemptive steps taken by Syria, which is...

The U.S. in recent bilateral talks reportedly gave Pyongyang a list of North Korean officials involved in the supply of nuclear technology to Syria, a suspicion the North denies. A high-level diplomatic source on Monday said that the U.S. obtained the list of officials including nuclear engineers, who were involved in the supply of nuclear technology to Syria, through various intelligence networks. This persuaded the U.S. that the North Korea-Syrian nuclear connection did exist. According to the source, it was chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill who gave the list to his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan during their latest...

SYRIAN Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said overnight Damascus is prepared for all scenarios in its worsening relationship with Washington, including the use of US military force. "A prudent person must make all his calculations, especially when we have to deal with an administration which knows how to strike but does not know how to withdraw," Mr Muallem said at the end of an Arab summit in Damascus. He was referring to Iraq where almost 160,000 American troops are stationed five years after invading the country to overthrow president Saddam Hussein. More than 4000 US soldiers have died since.