NICOSIA Ñ Syria acknowledged Wednesday night that it seeks to restore its
nuclear program.
The Syrian announcement came hours after Washington disclosed that
North Korea has violated an agreement to halt the production of
highly-enriched uranium and has several nuclear weapons.
Syria is also a major client of North Korea and last week signed a deal
for scientific and technology exchange with Pyongyang. Pyongyang is a
leading supplier of missiles and weapons of mass destruction technology to
Damascus.
But the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad said the program would
be limited to civilian uses. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said on
late Wednesday that the purpose of its nuclear program would be for research
and medical needs.
In the early 1990s, Syria tried to construct a nuclear reactor with
Argentina. U.S. pressure on Buenos Aires halted the deal.
The ministry said Syria was one of the first countries in the Middle
East to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1969. The statement
said the International Atomic Energy Agency conducted an inspection of
nuclear sites in 1995.
Western diplomatic sources said the Syrian announcement is in response
to U.S. concern over efforts by Damascus to revive its nuclear program. The
sources said the United States has been concerned over negotiations by Syria
for the purchase of a Russian nuclear reactor.
North Korea admitted this month that it was producing nuclear weapons material.
"North Korea, for several years, has been trying to enrich uranium, and
the only purpose for doing that is to develop nuclear weapons," State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Thursday.
"The attempt to
enrich uranium for the purpose of developing nuclear weapons is a very
serious concern that we have. We've long been concerned about their weapons
of mass destruction program. We've also been concerned about their ties to
terrorism."
U.S. officials said they were concerned that the North Korean admission
meant that Pyongyang will or has exported nuclear technology and material to
such states as Iran, Libya and Syria. North Korea has numerous uranium
mines.
