IAEA finds more uranium traces in Syria (Roundup)

Jun 5, 2009, 17:40 GMT

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.