"U.S. suspects Syria may be building nuclear facility"

Tel Aviv daily Haaretz reports that Israel's neighbor Syria may be setting up a nuclear facility. A week after Syria claimed Israeli aircraft violated its airspace and dropped munitions within its territory, a U.S. official was quoted on Thursday as saying Damascus may be building a nuclear facility with North Korean assistance. "U.S. suspects Syria may be building nuclear facility" According to a Washington Post report, a U.S. official talking on condition of anonymity said recent satellite images gathered over the past six months mostly by Israeli sources indicate Syria may be building such a facility. Access to the information has been heavily restricted to a team headed by security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, leaving many in the intelligence community unaware of the reports' significance, the U.S. newspaper quoted sources as saying. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that U.S. officials had confirmed that the Israel Air Force launched air strikes against Syria last week, but would not discuss the intended targets. "The strike I can confirm. The target, I can't," said one U.S. official, adding that there had been more than one strike. Another official called reports on the likely targets "confused." While Israel remained silent, media reports began surfacing Tuesday of U.S. officials confirming the Israel Air Force had indeed carried out an air strike last Thursday. The New York Times said Wednesday that likely targets were weapons caches Israel believed Iran was sending to Hezbollah via Syria, a claim dismissed later in the day by the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations. "This is blah blah. This is nonsense, this is an unfounded statement. It is not up to the Israelis or anyone else to assess what we have in Syria," said Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari. "There was no target, they dropped their munitions. They were running away after they were confronted by our air defense," he added.

"U.S. suspects Syria may be building nuclear facility"

According to a Washington Post report, a U.S. official talking on condition of anonymity said recent satellite images gathered over the past six months mostly by Israeli sources indicate Syria may be building such a facility.

Access to the information has been heavily restricted to a team headed by security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, leaving many in the intelligence community unaware of the reports' significance, the U.S. newspaper quoted sources as saying.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that U.S. officials had confirmed that the Israel Air Force launched air strikes against Syria last week, but would not discuss the intended targets.

"The strike I can confirm. The target, I can't," said one U.S. official, adding that there had been more than one strike. Another official called reports on the likely targets "confused."

While Israel remained silent, media reports began surfacing Tuesday of U.S. officials confirming the Israel Air Force had indeed carried out an air strike last Thursday.

The New York Times said Wednesday that likely targets were weapons caches Israel believed Iran was sending to Hezbollah via Syria, a claim dismissed later in the day by the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations.

"This is blah blah. This is nonsense, this is an unfounded statement. It is not up to the Israelis or anyone else to assess what we have in Syria," said Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari.

"There was no target, they dropped their munitions. They were running away after they were confronted by our air defense," he added.