U.S. intel to brief Congress on secret Israeli strike
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration will brief Congress on
the Israeli air strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear facility.
Congressional sources said members of the U.S. intelligence community
would report to the Senate Intelligence Committee on the Israeli attack in
northeastern Syria on April 22, Middle East Newsline reported.
The sources said the briefing would be held
in closed session and include a review of North Korean nuclear assistance to
Syria.
In September 2007, Israel Air Force F-15I fighter-jets destroyed a large
building near the Euphrates River near the Turkish border. Although Israel
has never acknowledged the attack, U.S. officials said the target was a
suspected nuclear production facility built by North Korea.
For months, the administration refused requests by the House and Senate
for a briefing on the Israeli attack. Members of Congress accused the
administration of seeking to conceal North Korea's role amid a State
Department effort to renew nuclear cooperation with Pyongyang.
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But the sources said North Korea has acknowledged nuclear cooperation
with Syria as well as help to the facility destroyed by Israel. They said
Pyongyang would insist that help provided to Damascus was not meant to
violate any ban of North Korean nuclear proliferation.
The administration has informed Israel on plans to brief Congress on the
air strike on Syria. The sources said the Israeli government led by Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert did not object.
