Russia, China to oppose nuclear censure of Syria at IAEA

Jun 9, 2011, 12:09 GMT

Vienna - Russia and China said Thursday they would vote against against censuring Syria over its alleged secret nuclear programme and referring the matter to the UN Security Council, diplomats said at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Russia and China have veto power on the Security Council and could block any further action initiated in New York.

The vote on Syria at the IAEA's 35-country governing board was expected later in the day. Western diplomats said they were confident of winning a majority for the resolution drafted by the United States and other Western countries.

Syria had likely been building a secret nuclear reactor at a site called Dair Alzour, the IAEA concluded in a recent report that was based on uranium traces found there, as well as on analysis of satellite images and the layout of the site.

IAEA has had to use circumstantial evidence because Israel bombed Dair Alzour in 2007, and Syria has shown little willingness to answer questions so far, arguing the site was a conventional military installation.

'The draft resolution, in our view, is untimely and not objective,' the Russian statement to the board said.

Russia's envoy Grigory Berdennikov said that the site did not pose any danger to peace and security. 'The Dair Alzour facility does not exist at this time,' he said.

China had also voiced its opposition to censuring Syria, participants of the board said.

Developing countries including Pakistan were expected to vote against the resolution, with support coming mostly from Western IAEA members.