US thinks N.Korea aided Syria on plutonium program
(Adds details, quotes, background)
By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - The Bush administration is expected to tell U.S. lawmakers on Thursday that it believes North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor that could produce plutonium, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The White House has said little about the question of any North Korean nuclear assistance to Syria since Israel conducted a mysterious Sept. 6 air strike inside Syria that media reports said was aimed at a nuclear site built with Pyongyang's help.
"The sense is that the Syrians, with the help of the North Koreans, were attempting to build an undeclared facility that could indeed produce plutonium," said the official, who spoke on condition he not be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, of the congressional briefings' likely content.
The Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal reported the information in their Wednesday editions.
While the official did not explicitly tie the closed-door briefings to the Israeli strike, he hinted at this by saying "if an undeclared reactor in dangerous hands were put out of commission before it was operational, that's a good thing."
While a handful of lawmakers were briefed on the issue last year, the decision to widen the circle comes as Washington appears closer to a deal for North Korea to provide an overdue declaration of its nuclear programs.
Once the poor, Communist state has produced the declaration, the United States is expected to ease sanctions on Pyongyang that flow from its presence on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and the U.S. Trading With the Enemy Act.
Analysts believe Thursday's briefings aim to persuade members of Congress that easing the sanctions is justified.
SKEPTICISM
There is skepticism, especially among the administration's Republican allies in Congress, that relaxing the sanctions is warranted and there are concerns North Korea will not produce the "complete and correct" declaration of its nuclear programs it has promised under a multilateral agreement.
The declaration is one step toward carrying out a 2005 agreement among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States in which North Korea committed to abandon any nuclear weapons and programs.
The briefings could also open a diplomatic Pandora's box for the United States with implications for its dealings with close ally Israel as well as with Syria and North Korea, which have had poor relations with Washington.
The U.S. intelligence community is expected to give multiple briefings on Thursday to members of the congressional committees that oversee armed services, foreign affairs and intelligence matters.
The U.S. official who asked not to be named said that there was "good intelligence ... from more than one place and more than one source" on the suspected North Korean nuclear aid to Syria.
One matter of sensitivity for Israel -- which is widely believed to be the source of some of the intelligence on Syria -- is the possibility that wider disclosure could antagonize Damascus and produce a negative reaction.
Syria is regarded by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism and it has long hosted Palestinian groups that have carried out attacks on Israelis.
The briefing could also irk North Korea, which U.S. officials say is sensitive to the possible disclosure of any nuclear proliferation it may have engaged in.
However, some congressional aides have said that a briefing is a necessity if the administration is to win support for continuing the six-party process and for providing the funds needed to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear facilities.
By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - The Bush administration is expected to tell U.S. lawmakers on Thursday that it believes North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor that could produce plutonium, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The White House has said little about the question of any North Korean nuclear assistance to Syria since Israel conducted a mysterious Sept. 6 air strike inside Syria that media reports said was aimed at a nuclear site built with Pyongyang's help.
"The sense is that the Syrians, with the help of the North Koreans, were attempting to build an undeclared facility that could indeed produce plutonium," said the official, who spoke on condition he not be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, of the congressional briefings' likely content.
The Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal reported the information in their Wednesday editions.
While the official did not explicitly tie the closed-door briefings to the Israeli strike, he hinted at this by saying "if an undeclared reactor in dangerous hands were put out of commission before it was operational, that's a good thing."
While a handful of lawmakers were briefed on the issue last year, the decision to widen the circle comes as Washington appears closer to a deal for North Korea to provide an overdue declaration of its nuclear programs.
Once the poor, Communist state has produced the declaration, the United States is expected to ease sanctions on Pyongyang that flow from its presence on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and the U.S. Trading With the Enemy Act.
Analysts believe Thursday's briefings aim to persuade members of Congress that easing the sanctions is justified.
SKEPTICISM
There is skepticism, especially among the administration's Republican allies in Congress, that relaxing the sanctions is warranted and there are concerns North Korea will not produce the "complete and correct" declaration of its nuclear programs it has promised under a multilateral agreement.
The declaration is one step toward carrying out a 2005 agreement among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States in which North Korea committed to abandon any nuclear weapons and programs.
The briefings could also open a diplomatic Pandora's box for the United States with implications for its dealings with close ally Israel as well as with Syria and North Korea, which have had poor relations with Washington.
The U.S. intelligence community is expected to give multiple briefings on Thursday to members of the congressional committees that oversee armed services, foreign affairs and intelligence matters.
The U.S. official who asked not to be named said that there was "good intelligence ... from more than one place and more than one source" on the suspected North Korean nuclear aid to Syria.
One matter of sensitivity for Israel -- which is widely believed to be the source of some of the intelligence on Syria -- is the possibility that wider disclosure could antagonize Damascus and produce a negative reaction.
Syria is regarded by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism and it has long hosted Palestinian groups that have carried out attacks on Israelis.
The briefing could also irk North Korea, which U.S. officials say is sensitive to the possible disclosure of any nuclear proliferation it may have engaged in.
However, some congressional aides have said that a briefing is a necessity if the administration is to win support for continuing the six-party process and for providing the funds needed to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear facilities.
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Sphere
Showbiz week
Swiss man soars with jet wings
