Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Syrian security forces shot dead at least 25 people while dispersing tens of thousands of demontrators in the central city of Hama on Friday
At least 25 Syrian protesters 'killed in Hama'
DAMASCUS — Syrian security forces shot dead at least 25 people while dispersing tens of thousands of demontrators in the central city of Hama on Friday, activists said, as anti-regime protests spread to Damascus.
Activists in the city told AFP by telephone in Nicosia that dozens of other people were wounded.
Security forces unleashed "intense gunfire" against a crowd of more than 50,000 people in Hama, according to Rami Abdel Rahman who heads the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
It was the largest demonstration in Hama since the mid-March outbreak of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, he said.
The official SANA news agency, however, reported "hundreds of people gathered after Friday prayers in Hama chanting diverse slogans" but that security forces and police had stayed away.
In 1982, Hama was the scene of a brutal crackdown that left an estimated 20,000 people dead when the Muslim Brotherhood rose up against the late Hafez al-Assad, father of current President Bashar al-Assad.
Thousands of demonstrators on Friday also rallied in and around Damascus, which so far has been largely spared the protests rocking Syria for more than 10 weeks, another rights activist said.
About 2,000 people marched in Rukn al-Din suburb and police armed with batons beat demonstrators in the southern Damascus district of Midan in a bid to break up a rally, said Abdul Karim Rihawi of the Syrian League for Human Rights.
Thousands more joined rallies calling for the end of Assad's regime across Damascus province, including in Jdaidet Artuz, Daraya and Zamalka.
"All the measures taken by the authorities to calm the street have failed," Rihawi said in apparent reference to Assad's decision on Wednesday to launch a "national dialogue" and decree an amnesty for hundreds of political prisoners.
Near the southern protest hub of Daraa, security forces opened fire to disperse a crowd in Jassem, a rights activist told AFP, as protesters also gathered in nearby Dal and in Kurdish towns of northern Syria.
Overnight, in several cities including Aleppo in the north and Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria residents took to rooftops to chant "God is Greatest," a slogan taken up by the opposition, said Abdel Rahman.
A government crackdown which focused earlier this week on the flashpoint Homs region left at least 75 civilians and military personnel dead since Sunday, according to the rights group chief.
Syrian state television on Friday broadcast the accounts of three suspected members of an "an armed criminal group" who said they had "killed demonstrators and security agents" in Homs.
Al-Baath newspaper, viewed as the mouthpiece of the Baath party which has ruled Syria since 1963, quoted the men as saying they had "cut roads" and "burnt public buildings" in exchange for money and guns.
Residents, meanwhile, said Internet lines were cut in Damascus and the coastal city of Latakia on Friday, in a repeat of a suspension of services at the start of April.
Syrian activists called the latest protests over the dozens of children killed in anti-government protests such as 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib whom activists say was tortured to death, a charge denied by the authorities.
"The people want the fall of the regime. Tomorrow, it's 'Children's Friday' of rising up against injustice, like the adults," the activists announced on their Facebook page Syrian Revolution 2011, an engine of the uprising.
The UN children's agency UNICEF says at least 30 children have been shot dead in the revolt against Assad's autocratic rule that erupted in mid-March.
The revolt in Syria was sparked by the arrest and torture of 15 children and adolescents accused of painting anti-regime graffiti in Daraa, which became a flashpoint of the deadly protests.
More than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested in a brutal crackdown on almost daily anti-regime demonstrations in Syria since March 15, human rights organisations say.
The government insists the unrest in Syria is the work of "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.
Snubbing government concessions that included the release of some political prisoners and a call for a national dialogue, opposition groups at a meeting in Turkey demanded late Thursday for Assad's "immediate resignation."
Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.
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The Special Representative urges the Government of Syria to ensure the protection of all children
SRSG Santos Pais calls upon Syria to protect children from violence
New York, 3 June 2011 – The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, expresses her deep concern at the continued acts of violence perpetrated against children in the context of the on-going unrest in Syria.
The Special Representative urges the Government of Syria to ensure the protection of all children from violence, in accordance with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the commitments it has undertaken in the Marrakesh Declaration, adopted last December by the Fourth Arab High Level Conference on the Rights of the Child.
Violence against children must stop and children’s safety must be upheld at all times.
Children need to be protected from unlawful arrest, torture and ill-treatment, and their lives should not be put at risk under any circumstance.
Children’s right to medical care and to social and protection services must be guaranteed. Child victims and witnesses of violence must be supported in their process of healing, recovery and reintegration. In this respect, psycho-social programmes should be provided as a matter of urgency to help these children overcome the trauma they have endured and face the future with confidence.
The Special Representative calls for a thorough and impartial investigation of all reported child deaths and incidents of violence against children, including alleged cases of unlawful arrest in demonstrations, and torture in detention.
It is urgent to fight impunity and establish a credible system of accountability for these serious child rights violations.
Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children
#
For further information, please contact:
Miguel Caldeira
Communications Specialist
Office of the SRSG on Violence against Children
Tel: +1 212 824 6763
Cell: +1 917 402 8971
Email: mcaldeira@unicef.org
http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org
http://facebook.com/msantospais
http://twitter.com/srsgvac
Miguel Caldeira
Communications Specialist
Office of the SRSG on Violence against Children
Tel: +1 212 824 6763
Cell: +1 917 402 8971
Email: mcaldeira@unicef.org
http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org
http://facebook.com/msantospais
http://twitter.com/srsgvac
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Local authorities estimate that around 4,000 Syrians have crossed to Lebanon recently
Title UNHCR working with Lebanon to help people fleeing Syria
Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Publication Date 20 May 2011
Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR working with Lebanon to help people fleeing Syria, 20 May 2011, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4dd65ac52.html [accessed 22 May 2011]
UNHCR working with Lebanon to help people fleeing Syria
UNHCR and partners are working with the Lebanese government in the border areas of Wadi Khaled and Tall Bire in northern Lebanon to help families who have fled the violence in Syria in recent weeks.
According to local Lebanese leaders some 1,400 people have crossed into the Wadi Khaled and Tall Biri regions over the past week from the Syrian town of Tall Kalakh. This is in addition to those that have crossed since late April. Local authorities estimate that around 4,000 Syrians have crossed to Lebanon recently. The exact numbers are difficult to confirm.
Last week, care-taker Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on the government's High Relief Committee to supervise and coordinate the response to the humanitarian needs of those displaced in the north. The pro-active role taken by the Lebanese authorities to ensure that new arrivals are assisted is encouraging.
Many of those who have crossed the border recently have come without any belongings; having fled what they say was heavy military bombardment of Tall Kalakh and surrounding areas. Most have found shelter with relatives or host families, and some are residing temporarily in a school in Tall Biri.
UNHCR has participated in a number of distributions of mattresses, blankets and food kits to assist the new arrivals. To date this includes some 3500 mattresses and 1600 blankets as well as over 500 food packages – each package can feed a family of four for a month.
Most of the people who have crossed the border in recent weeks are women and children. In addition to their immediate need for food, shelter and medical help, they also need psycho-social support. The latter is being addressed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. UNHCR is supporting these efforts and has established a field presence in the north, working closely with the ministry to assess and provide needed protection interventions.
UNHCR is following up directly with the government concerning reports of individuals being detained for illegal stay/entry and some being returned to Syria.
Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Publication Date 20 May 2011
Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR working with Lebanon to help people fleeing Syria, 20 May 2011, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4dd65ac52.html [accessed 22 May 2011]
UNHCR working with Lebanon to help people fleeing Syria
UNHCR and partners are working with the Lebanese government in the border areas of Wadi Khaled and Tall Bire in northern Lebanon to help families who have fled the violence in Syria in recent weeks.
According to local Lebanese leaders some 1,400 people have crossed into the Wadi Khaled and Tall Biri regions over the past week from the Syrian town of Tall Kalakh. This is in addition to those that have crossed since late April. Local authorities estimate that around 4,000 Syrians have crossed to Lebanon recently. The exact numbers are difficult to confirm.
Last week, care-taker Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on the government's High Relief Committee to supervise and coordinate the response to the humanitarian needs of those displaced in the north. The pro-active role taken by the Lebanese authorities to ensure that new arrivals are assisted is encouraging.
Many of those who have crossed the border recently have come without any belongings; having fled what they say was heavy military bombardment of Tall Kalakh and surrounding areas. Most have found shelter with relatives or host families, and some are residing temporarily in a school in Tall Biri.
UNHCR has participated in a number of distributions of mattresses, blankets and food kits to assist the new arrivals. To date this includes some 3500 mattresses and 1600 blankets as well as over 500 food packages – each package can feed a family of four for a month.
Most of the people who have crossed the border in recent weeks are women and children. In addition to their immediate need for food, shelter and medical help, they also need psycho-social support. The latter is being addressed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. UNHCR is supporting these efforts and has established a field presence in the north, working closely with the ministry to assess and provide needed protection interventions.
UNHCR is following up directly with the government concerning reports of individuals being detained for illegal stay/entry and some being returned to Syria.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
SYRIA: Death toll climbs as hundreds flee to Lebanon
SYRIA: Death toll climbs as hundreds flee to Lebanon
Syrian security forces killed at least three people on Saturday in Homs province near the border with Lebanon despite President Bashar al-Assad’s promises to stop the shooting. More than 500 people fled across the border into Lebanon as the town of Tall Kalakh was besieged. Assad called for a "national dialogue" on Friday yet Syrian security forces killed six people shortly after the announcement. Human rights activists have reported that between 700 and 800 people have been killed within the past month by the Assad regime and activist Wissam Tarif has claimed over 8,000 people are in custody or missing. Last week the U.S. warned Damascus it would face stiff consequences if the regime didn’t cease brutalizing its own people.
Syrian security forces killed at least three people on Saturday in Homs province near the border with Lebanon despite President Bashar al-Assad’s promises to stop the shooting. More than 500 people fled across the border into Lebanon as the town of Tall Kalakh was besieged. Assad called for a "national dialogue" on Friday yet Syrian security forces killed six people shortly after the announcement. Human rights activists have reported that between 700 and 800 people have been killed within the past month by the Assad regime and activist Wissam Tarif has claimed over 8,000 people are in custody or missing. Last week the U.S. warned Damascus it would face stiff consequences if the regime didn’t cease brutalizing its own people.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Security forces arrest hundreds across Syria
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AMMAN |
AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian security forces going house to house rounded up more people in a clampdown on pro-democracy unrest across the country on Monday, rights activists said, after taking control of Deraa, cradle of the uprising.Human rights campaigners said hundreds of pro-democracy sympathisers had been arrested since Sunday in an attempt to quell the six-week-old revolt, the gravest challenge ever to the authoritarian rule of President Bashar al-Assad.
"They are continuing their arrest operation in all the cities of Syria. They have lists and they are going into houses looking for people," activist Ammar Qurabi told Reuters.
"These are arbitrary arrests, it is happening without a warrant. We do not know what their charges are. Nobody knows."
Looking for men under 40 years old, security forces broke into houses in the old quarter of Deraa that a tank-backed force led by Assad's brother Maher shelled into submission on Saturday, witnesses told Reuters by telephone on Sunday.
The state news agency SANA said on Monday army units tracked down "terrorist groups that have terrorised civilians (in Deraa)...and killed 10 of its members and arrested 499 of them."
SANA quoted an army source as saying that in addition to the 10 dead, security forces also killed five snipers who were shooting at pedestrians. The source told SANA that two members of the security forces were also killed in clashes.
Syrian protesters deny that they have weapons and are using them in the unrest, targeting 48 years of Baath Party domination in Syria and inspired by other popular Arab revolts that have overthrown the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt this year.
Prominent rights campaigners were also arrested in the eastern cities of Qamishli, Raqqa and in suburbs of Damascus, along with scores of ordinary Syrians active in the mass protests demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption.
Qurabi said the security forces arrested writer Omar Khoush upon his return from Ankara. The reasons were not clear, he said.
CIVILIAN DEATH TOLL AT 560--RIGHTS GROUPS
Syrians kept up protests despite the arrests and violent repression that has resulted in the killing of at least 560 civilians by Assad's security forces, human rights groups say.
In the central city of Homs, thousands marched on Sunday chanting "downfall of the regime!"
In Rastan to the north, a funeral was held for 17 men killed when military intelligence agents fired at a protest on Friday during which the names of 50 resigning members of Assad's Baath Party were being read out.
Signs of discontent have been also emerging in the majority Sunni Muslim ranks of the army commanded by officers from the minority Alawite sect, to which the Assad family belongs.
Two thousand Kurds in the village of Karbawi near Qamishli attended the funeral of 20-year-old conscript Ahmad Fanar Mustafa. His father accused security forces of killing him for refusing to take part in the repression.
Fanar Mustafa refused to let the governor of the province attend the funeral of his son. "They kill and then they want to march in the funeral of the murdered," the father was quoted as saying by a witness at the funeral.
In Deraa, where the protests first broke out on March 18, a witness said young men in the old quarter fled to safety in neighbouring villages to the west as security forces dragged 450 men under the age of 40 from their homes.
The witness, a trader who ducked Syrian security and crossed into the Jordanian city of Ramtha on Sunday, said the authorities were cleaning Deraa of blood from dozens of youths killed by machinegun fire.
Security forces drove away two trucks with the bodies of 68 civilians killed since Assad sent tanks into Deraa on Monday.
"Bullets are their response to the people's revolt. The security forces who came to Deraa told us 'Go buy bread from a bakery called Freedom. Let's see if it feeds you'," said a prominent lawyer in Deraa who declined to be identified further.
Foreign media are banned from Syria, making it harder to confirm accounts of events in the country.
(Writing by Mariam Karouny; additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Sunday, May 1, 2011
and 10 othersCrisisWatch N°93, 1 May 2011
and 10 others
The situation deteriorated in Sudan (Northern) as both North and South appear to be militarising Abyei ahead of the South Kordofan elections scheduled for May. Tensions triggered militia attacks in el-Faid town leaving at least seventeen dead and over 250 houses burned. President Bashir’s removal of Salah Gosh from the national security committee signalled growing divisions within the ruling party.
Download the full issue of CrisisWatch N°93 Fighting intensified in Sudan (South) between government and rebel militias where mid-month clashes saw more than 165 casualties over a seven-day period. Tensions increased as a 27-28 April meeting of political party leaders to review the draft constitution failed to reach consensus.
The five-month stand-off in Côte d’Ivoire ended as forces loyal to president-elect Alassane Ouattara arrested former president Laurent Gbagbo on 11 April. While the arrest opens up political space for Ouattara, reports of his allies carrying out reprisal attacks against the Gbagbo camp, along with the outbreak of heavy clashes among forces supporting Ouattara, illustrate the scale of the challenges ahead.
Violence sharply escalated in Syria, where over a hundred anti-government protesters were reported killed on 22 April, the worst day of bloodshed so far in the regime's violent crackdown on dissent. There are fears of further violence as the government deployed troops across the country and used tanks to lay siege to the city of Deraa where the revolts began.
In Bahrain repressive measures against pro-democracy activists continued despite the marked decline in protests following the government’s crackdown in March. Amidst a wave of arrests reports emerged that prisoners had been beaten and tortured by security forces.
There was no clear prospect for an end to fighting in Libya, which this month saw NATO bombing of government forces and installations, including an airstrike on Tripoli that reportedly killed Colonel Qadaffi's youngest son and three grandchildren. Qadaffi's calls for a ceasefire and negotiations were dismissed as a disingenuous ploy by rebels as Libyan forces continued shelling rebels and urban centres. Rebels claimed over 1,000 people have been killed in the besieged city of Misrata and the UN stated that government use of cluster munitions and targeting of medical facilities could amount to war crimes.
CrisisWatch again identifies a conflict risk alert and a conflict resolution opportunity in the coming month for Yemen. Both the government and the opposition have now, in principle, agreed to sign a power-transfer deal to get the country out of the crisis. With spoilers on both sides and youth groups rejecting the plan there is still a real risk of civil war.
A further wave of unrest swept Burkina Faso in mid-April as members of the presidential guard mutinied in Ouagadougou and looting and rioting spread to at least three other cities. Shopkeepers and students also staged violent protests. In an attempt to end the unrest, President Blaise Compaoré dismissed the government and military leaders. A subsequent police mutiny in the capital 27-28 April spread to several other cities and 34 opposition parties have called for Compaoré to step down.
Tensions escalated in Uganda where at least two were killed and dozens injured during Kampala riots on 29 April triggered by the violent arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye for defiance over the government ban on “walk to work” protests against surging food and fuel costs.
Violence flared along the border between Thailand and Cambodia towards the end of the month, with at least fifteen soldiers killed in clashes and tens of thousands displaced on both sides.
In Bosnia the ongoing political crisis intensified, in Belarus thirteen people were killed in a suspected terrorist attack on a Minsk subway station, and in Northern Ireland a police officer was killed in a car bomb attack by dissident republicans in Omagh at the beginni ng of the month.
CrisisWatch also highlights Sri Lanka, following the 26 April release of the report of the UN panel of experts finding "credible evidence" that violations committed during the civil war by both government forces and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) likely cost "tens of thousands" of civilian lives and may have amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The panel called for an "international mechanism" to probe the allegations further.
Download the full issue of CrisisWatch N°93 Fighting intensified in Sudan (South) between government and rebel militias where mid-month clashes saw more than 165 casualties over a seven-day period. Tensions increased as a 27-28 April meeting of political party leaders to review the draft constitution failed to reach consensus.
The five-month stand-off in Côte d’Ivoire ended as forces loyal to president-elect Alassane Ouattara arrested former president Laurent Gbagbo on 11 April. While the arrest opens up political space for Ouattara, reports of his allies carrying out reprisal attacks against the Gbagbo camp, along with the outbreak of heavy clashes among forces supporting Ouattara, illustrate the scale of the challenges ahead.
Violence sharply escalated in Syria, where over a hundred anti-government protesters were reported killed on 22 April, the worst day of bloodshed so far in the regime's violent crackdown on dissent. There are fears of further violence as the government deployed troops across the country and used tanks to lay siege to the city of Deraa where the revolts began.
In Bahrain repressive measures against pro-democracy activists continued despite the marked decline in protests following the government’s crackdown in March. Amidst a wave of arrests reports emerged that prisoners had been beaten and tortured by security forces.
There was no clear prospect for an end to fighting in Libya, which this month saw NATO bombing of government forces and installations, including an airstrike on Tripoli that reportedly killed Colonel Qadaffi's youngest son and three grandchildren. Qadaffi's calls for a ceasefire and negotiations were dismissed as a disingenuous ploy by rebels as Libyan forces continued shelling rebels and urban centres. Rebels claimed over 1,000 people have been killed in the besieged city of Misrata and the UN stated that government use of cluster munitions and targeting of medical facilities could amount to war crimes.
CrisisWatch again identifies a conflict risk alert and a conflict resolution opportunity in the coming month for Yemen. Both the government and the opposition have now, in principle, agreed to sign a power-transfer deal to get the country out of the crisis. With spoilers on both sides and youth groups rejecting the plan there is still a real risk of civil war.
A further wave of unrest swept Burkina Faso in mid-April as members of the presidential guard mutinied in Ouagadougou and looting and rioting spread to at least three other cities. Shopkeepers and students also staged violent protests. In an attempt to end the unrest, President Blaise Compaoré dismissed the government and military leaders. A subsequent police mutiny in the capital 27-28 April spread to several other cities and 34 opposition parties have called for Compaoré to step down.
Tensions escalated in Uganda where at least two were killed and dozens injured during Kampala riots on 29 April triggered by the violent arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye for defiance over the government ban on “walk to work” protests against surging food and fuel costs.
Violence flared along the border between Thailand and Cambodia towards the end of the month, with at least fifteen soldiers killed in clashes and tens of thousands displaced on both sides.
In Bosnia the ongoing political crisis intensified, in Belarus thirteen people were killed in a suspected terrorist attack on a Minsk subway station, and in Northern Ireland a police officer was killed in a car bomb attack by dissident republicans in Omagh at the beginni ng of the month.
CrisisWatch also highlights Sri Lanka, following the 26 April release of the report of the UN panel of experts finding "credible evidence" that violations committed during the civil war by both government forces and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) likely cost "tens of thousands" of civilian lives and may have amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The panel called for an "international mechanism" to probe the allegations further.
Hundreds arrested in Syria sweep: activists
Posted
Hundreds of dissidents have been arrested across Syria as dozens were killed in weekend protests, activists said.
Anti-regime activists called for fresh protests aimed at breaking the week-long siege in the Damascus suburb of Douma and the flashpoint town of Deraa, as well as in solidarity with other towns faced with deadly crackdowns.Six civilians were killed in Deraa on Saturday, a day after massive protests over the Muslim weekend in Syria where rights groups say the civilian death toll has topped 580 since the demonstrations started on March 15.
British prime minister David Cameron denounced Syria's "disgraceful" crackdown and urged more global pressure against Damascus, although Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned against foreign military intervention.
The United States has blocked assets of president Bashar al-Assad's brother, Maher, who commands the feared Fourth Armoured Division.
Top officials and Syria's intelligence services have also had their accounts frozen.
The European Union is preparing a raft of sanctions, including an arms embargo.
"At least 356 people were arrested today across Syria, including in Deraa, Douma, Latakia and Qamishli," an activist said.
He said demonstrations took place in the central city of Homs, where protesters chanted "the people demand the fall of the regime" in the Khaldiyeh area near Nur mosque.
A protest was also held in the coastal city of Latakia and a candlelit vigil in Banias.
Troops in tanks backed by other armoured vehicles cruised Deraa streets yesterday, shooting to keep residents indoors and arresting men aged 15 and over, according to an activist.
"Since early morning, the army and security forces have been combing neighbourhoods one by one and making sweeping arrests. Hundreds have been arrested since Friday," activist Abdullah Abizad said by telephone.
In Douma, "the army has tightened the siege and has a list of 200 names of people it wants to arrest", another activist said.
A young man recounted his escape from Douma, which he did at "great risk" using back roads. "It was very difficult and very dangerous. I had to avoid all the checkpoints."
"People are afraid to leave their homes but they are beginning to feel the pinch. There are shortages of food, baby milk and other basic stuff," he said.
He said food prices have risen up to five times their usual cost.
Activists say many people in Douma and Deraa live off the land and have been relying on what they grow. They say the situation is critical but there is no famine yet.
- AFP
‘Doomsday scenario’ if Syria fails
BEIRUT — The toppling of the presidents in Tunisia and Egypt precipitated a tumult of revolutionary fervor that promises to transform the Middle East, but the potential collapse of the Syrian regime could wreak havoc of a very different kind.
In Syria, the fall of President Bashar al-Assad would unleash a cataclysm of chaos, sectarian strife and extremism that spreads far beyond its borders, threatening not only the entrenched rulers already battling to hold at bay a clamor for democratic change but also the entire balance of power in the volatile region, analysts and experts say. CONTINUED HERE
In Syria, the fall of President Bashar al-Assad would unleash a cataclysm of chaos, sectarian strife and extremism that spreads far beyond its borders, threatening not only the entrenched rulers already battling to hold at bay a clamor for democratic change but also the entire balance of power in the volatile region, analysts and experts say. CONTINUED HERE
Friday, April 29, 2011
Syria target hit by Israel was 'nuclear site' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Syria target hit by Israel was 'nuclear site' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said for the first time that a target destroyed by
Israeli warplanes in the Syrian desert in 2007 was a covert site of a future nuclear reactor.
Yukia Amano's comments on Thursday countered assertions by Syria that it had no atomic secrets,
and it is the first time the UN nuclear watchdog unequivocally spoke about the issue.
"The facility that was ... destroyed by Israel was a nuclear reactor under construction," Amano told a news conference.
Previous reports by the IAEA have suggested that the structure could have been a nuclear reactor.
In a February report, Amano said only that features of the bombed structure in Al Kibar were "similar to
what may be found at nuclear reactor sites".
Amano spoke during a news conference meant to focus on the Fukushima nuclear disaster after a visit to the
Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to discuss clean-up efforts at Japan's tsunami-ravaged nuclear plant.
After the news conference, the agency made frantic but fruitless efforts at damage control, issuing a statement suggesting Amano
had erred in making the public comments, and that he "did not say that the IAEA had reached the conclusion that the site was definitely
a nuclear reactor".
Amano's comments, which corroborate a United States assertion three years ago that the bombed target was a reactor,
could increase pressure on Syria to stop stonewalling the IAEA's requests for more information on its nuclear activities.
Israel has never publicly commented on the strike or even acknowledged carrying it out. The US has shared intelligence
with the agency that identifies the structure as a nearly completed nuclear reactor that - if finished - would have been able to produce
plutonium for the fissile core of nuclear warheads.
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