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The mysterious Israeli air strike on a Syrian military compound this month was reportedly carried out after Israeli commandos, in a daring infiltration, brought back evidence that the site contained nuclear-related material of North Korean origin.
The Sunday Times reported that the United States gave the nod to Israel to carry out the raid only after it was shown the evidence and confirmed that the samples indeed derived from North Korea.
Israeli intelligence had been keeping an eye on the site near Dayr az-Zawr in northern Syria for months. Commandos from the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal), the most elite of Israel's special forces, infiltrated the site and extracted the relevant material. The operation was said to be supervised by Defence Minister Ehud Barak, a previous commander of the unit. Since assuming the defence portfolio three months ago, he is said to have focused on developments at Dayr az-Zawr.
Reconnaisance forays deep into hostile Arab countries have been carried out by Israeli commando units over decades, almost always undetected and unreported.
John Bolton, Washington's former ambassador to the UN, has suggested that North Korea might be intending to use Syria as a safe haven for its nuclear materials on the eve of talks aimed at ending its own nuclear weapons programme in return for aid and security guarantees.
There have also been suggestions that the alleged material is destined for Iran or even developing a Syrian nuclear programme.
The question is whether North Korea was trying to transfer some of the 55kg of weapons-grade plutonium in its possession, enough for several rudimentary bombs.
The September 6 air raid, which reportedly left the compound in ruins, was reminiscent of Israel's attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981 which set back Saddam Hussein's plans for development of nuclear weapons. It also highlights the possibility of a similar attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in the future, although Israel would prefer to leave this task to the Western community.
According to reports based on conversations between Chinese and North Korean officials, a number of North Korean personnel may have been killed in the Israeli raid.
