UN nuke inspectors begin probe in Syria as government imposes secrecy
	

 June 23, 2008
PR Inside
Original Source: http://www.pr-inside.com/un-nuke-inspectors-begin-probe-in-r659232.htm
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - U.N. experts on Monday began probing allegations that Syria has run a hidden nuclear program. Damascus imposed strict secrecy on the visit and warned the U.N. not to drag it into a drawn-out investigation like the standoff with Iran.
The Syrian government's silence over the visit was a sign of the deep sensitivities over the U.S. and Israeli nuclear allegations, which Damascus denies but fears could be used by Washington to rally international pressure against it.
The main focus of the inspectors is the Al Kibar facility _ a building in the remote eastern desert that was destroyed in September by Israeli jets and the American intelligence officials have claimed was a nearly completed plutonium-producing reactor.
Syrian state-run media has not acknowledged the arrival of the International Atomic Energy Agency team, and authorities have imposed strict measures on the local and foreign press to control reporting on the subject.
On Sunday, officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna confirmed its team had left for Syria for the visit _ which is to examine U.S. allegations that Syria has secret nuclear sites. Neither Syria nor the IAEA has confirmed any details since, and it not known when the team will tour Al Kibar during its three-day stay.
Syria in June agreed to the IAEA check of the U.S. and Israeli allegations, but said it will not allow the agency to probe beyond the Al Kibar site, despite IAEA's expressed eagerness to visit three other suspect locations.
Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog, urged Syria in an interview with the Al-Arabiya news channel last week to show «absolute transparency» but said the agency has «no evidence» that Syria has the personnel or the fuel to operate a large-scale nuclear facility.
He has criticized Israel and the United States for not passing on intelligence that pointed to the Al Kibar site as being a secret nuclear facility before it was bombed, complicating his team's mission nine months later.
The sole reference to the visit in the Syrian press was in the Al-Watan newspaper, which is privately owned but guided by government policy. In an editorial Monday, it accused the United States of «blackmailing» Syria with false nuclear accusations. It said Damascus aimed to show «its transparency and desire for peace and nuclear nonproliferation» by agreeing to the inspectors' visit.
«However, the inspections should not turn into a series with protracted episodes similar to the Iraqi and Iranian» cases, it said, referring to the IAEA's protracted probe during former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's rule and the agency's continuing confrontation with Iran.
The U.N. and Iran, a close ally of Syria, have been locked into a standoff for years amid accusations by the United States and some European governments that Tehran wants to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies the claim but has refused U.N. demands it suspend uranium enrichment, bringing it several rounds of U.N. financial sanctions.

The IAEA visit is billed as a fact-finding mission. But Washington hopes it will find evidence of a nascent nuclear program. If it does, it could mark the start of massive investigation similar to the agency's five-year probe into Iran's activities. It could also draw in countries such as North Korea, which Washington says helped Damascus and Iran.
The agency has little formal inspection rights in Syria, which has declared only a rudimentary nuclear program using a small 27-kilowatt reactor for research and the production of isotopes for medical and agricultural uses.
Al-Watan also said the U.S. nuclear accusations aim to turn the nuclear issue into a «sword hanging over Syria ... in what resembles a blackmail policy that might later turn into direct targeting.
The editorial also blasted Washington for «protecting» Israel's alleged nuclear program while going after countries whose policies it opposes, such as Iran, Syria and North Korea.
«While everything is possible against countries that oppose U.S. policies ... Washington provides full protection for Israel although that country has close to 200 nuclear warheads,» the editorial said.
Israel is widely believed to have developed nuclear weapons though the Israeli government has never officially acknowledged them.