Israel Matzav

IAEA says it found uranium at Syrian nuke site, but Israel might have put it there

The IAEA announced on Monday that it has found uranium traces at the site of Syria's al-Kibar 'alleged' nuclear plant that was destroyed by Israel in September 2007. But IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei (pictured) is apparently not discounting the claim by the 'Syrian brothers' that the uranium came from IAF sources.

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said Monday the agency needs more transparency from Syria and other nations to determine whether traces of uranium found at a site reportedly bombed by IAF planes indicate Damascus was building a nuclear reactor there.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei confirmed that the radioactive material was found at the site, but said the source was inconclusive.

"It's not highly enriched uranium. It could have come from so many different ways," he told reporters in Dubai. "That's why we're looking at so many different scenarios."

Uranium can be found naturally in low concentrations and must be "enriched" before it can be used in either power plants or nuclear weapons. Highly enriched uranium is the type used in atomic bombs.

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The IAEA chief called specifically for more cooperation from Damascus, saying it needs "a lot of transparency on the part of Syria." He said he was hopeful that Syria would allow inspectors back into the country to carry out further tests.

But he also said Israel needs to provide more information to address Syrian allegations that the uranium may have come from Israeli bombs allegedly dropped on the site during the September 2007 raid.

Moallem last week said it was unclear what type of bombs targeted the site, adding that the United States had used bombs containing depleted uranium in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no comment on the matter when asked last week.

ElBaradei also called on countries that have satellite images of the site to cooperate with the investigation.

"We need cooperation from everybody," he said. "We are not going to be able to reach a quick conclusion or jump the gun unless we have absolutely credible information."

If there were real transparency in Syria, no one would entertain the notion that the uranium was dropped there by the Israelis. And if the IAEA were truly a neutral nuclear watchdog with teeth rather than a feckless show (as proven by their treatment of Iran), they would have gotten to the bottom of this story a long time ago.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:40 PM