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Syria for Arab nuclear initiative

DUBAI: Syria has declared it was not seeking nuclear weapons but was keen to develop atomic energy as part of a larger Arab project.

“Acquiring nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is an international trend that all countries are rightfully pursuing.

In Syria, we want this to be done within an Arab context, which was discussed and agreed during the Arab Summit in Riyadh,” said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an interview to Gulf News during a recently concluded visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Gulf-Arab countries had declared their intent to harness nuclear energy for peaceful purposes following the 2007 Arab summit.

Mr. Assad refuted allegations that Syria had been engaged in covert nuclear activity at a facility which was bombed by Israeli jets last year. U.S. intelligence officials claimed North Korea was assisting Syria in this project.

“If anyone had a secret dossier on nuclear facilities in Syria with a Korean role, as they claim, then why did they wait for seven months before destroying a normal military facility by the Israeli raid? Why did they not request the U.N. to carry out an inspection?” said Mr. Assad.

IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei has said an IAEA team would visit Syria from June 22 to investigate at the suspected reactor site.

In a separate meeting with local newspaper editors, Mr. Assad said the changes in the international scenario meant talks with Israel were unlikely to commence before 2009.

Direct talks would not start before next year and “[would] depend on the stability of the Israeli government and the seriousness of the other party,” Mr. Assad was quoted as saying by a local daily Al-Khaleej.

He added that the U.S. should eventually step in to carry forward the progress made during indirect talks with Israel, with Turkey playing the mediator’s role.

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