Syria referred to UN security council over suspected nuclear programme

IAEA vote rules against Syria for failure to co-operate with inquiry into suspected nuclear project at Dair Alzour site The UN’s nuclear watchdog has referred Syria to the security council for failure to co-operate with an enquiry into its suspected covert nuclear weapons programme. The decision, by a 17-6 vote at the 35-nation governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), increases Syria’s isolation. It reflects a formal judgment that it is not in compliance with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) after an IAEA report found that a site known as Dair Alzour, bombed by Israel in 2007, was “very likely a nuclear reactor” for producing plutonium, which Syria should have declared. However, the security council referral is unlikely to lead to sanctions in the near future. The council is not required to act, and both Russia and China have signalled that they would oppose punitive measures. Both powers voted against Syria’s referral, which had been proposed by the US and 12 allies at the IAEA board meeting in Vienna. Russia described the resolution as “untimely and not objective”, and complained that its suggestions for changes to its resolution had been ignored. The Russian ambassador to the IAEA, Grigory Berdennikov, said that there may have been some Syrian wrongdoing, but that Dair Alzour no longer posed a threat to international security. China agreed that the matter could be dealt with within the IAEA. The resolution against Syria passed by a majority of 17 to six, with 11 abstentions and one absentee. The political split on the board will be a troubling for a UN body which has generally sought consensus. Syria has insisted that the building in Dair Alzour was a non-nuclear military installation. But an initial IAEA inspection of the site in June 2008, nine months after it was bombed by Israeli warplanes, found traces of uranium and graphite. The IAEA report presented to the board this week said that Syria did not provide an adequate explanation for their presence, nor did the government in Damascus give permission for further inspections. Satellite photographs of the site showed extensive efforts to destroy evidence, removing wrecked equipment and burying the ruins of the building in soil. The inspectors judged that the Dair Alzour building closely resembled a type of gas-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor used by the North Koreans to produce plutonium for their nuclear weapons. Syria United Nations Nuclear weapons Non-proliferation treaty (NPT) Russia China Julian Borger guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 9, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.