Syrian Media Denies Nuclear Materials

Syrian media this week continued to insist that even if United Nations inspectors had identified a radioactive substance at a site bombed by the Israelis last year, the material had not originated there.



Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, said this week that traces of uranium found at Al-Kibar in western Syria did not mean there had been a nuclear reactor there. After Israeli jets bombed the site in September 2007, the United States alleged that the Syrians had secretly been building a reactor, a claim Damascus denies.



Elbaradei said the uranium could have appeared at the site for a variety of reasons, and encouraged Syria to be more transparent and help the IAEA investigation.



In a comment piece published by the pro-government newspaper Al-Watan on November 18, Damascus university law professor Ibrahim Daraghi said the country was “clean” when it came to radioactive material.



He said Damascus should not ignore reports that uranium had been found, and said the material could have been brought there on someone’s clothing.



Daraghi said Syria also needed to find out “the real reasons” why diplomatic sources leaked the story on the IAEA’s findings.



The pro-government website Al-Jamal reported on November 18 that the IAEA was proposing to help Syria develop a peaceful nuclear energy programme to ensure it did not try to obtain the technology by itself.



Al-Jamal argued that IAEA oversight would stop the Israelis and Americans trying, as it put it, “to fabricate information and truth”, but he said they would nevertheless try to prevent Syria from developing a peaceful nuclear programme.