Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has
found traces of uranium at an additional location in Syria, according
to the agency's report from Friday which also focussed on the
country's alleged covert nuclear reactor at al-Kibar.
The Vienna-based agency made it also clear it did not believe
Syria's explanations about the al-Kibar site that was bombed by
Israel in 2007 and which Damascus claims was a conventional military
facility.
'The information provided by Syria to date does not adequately
support its assertions about the nature of the site,' IAEA Director
General Mohamed ElBaradei wrote in the report to member countries.
It was the second find of man-made uranium after IAEA inspectors
detected such particles at the bombed site last summer.
The new traces were found at a small reactor in Damascus that is
used for education and teaching purposes and that is under routine
IAEA surveillance.
Normally, one would expect to find different types of uranium at
such a facility, a senior official close to the agency said.
Also, ElBaradei urged Syria to provide better cooperation on
shedding light on procurement activities that could have been related
to a covert nuclear programme.
Answers provided so far 'were only partial and did not address
most of the questions,' ElBaradei wrote in the report that is set to
be discussed when the IAEA's governing board meets from June 15.
The document also called on Damascus to provide information on
possible activities of a North Korean trading company in Syria, and
on cooperation between Syrian and North Korean scientists.
The United States has claimed there was a link with North Korea
and has said the alleged reactor in the Syrian desert was close to
completion before it was bombed in September 2007.
So far, the agency's inspectors have been at al-Kibar only once,
in the summer of 2008, as Syria has not granted additional visits.
IAEA experts are especially interested to examine the rubble of
the bombed site that has been moved to a different location, as well
as additional facilities that could be related to the alleged
reactor.
The uranium traces found at al-Kibar are unlikely to have come
from Israeli munitions, according to the IAEA.
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