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The head of the UN nuclear watchdog criticised Israel yesterday for attacking a suspicious Syrian site last month, saying the "bomb first and then ask questions later" undermined global atomic monitoring work.
In his first public comment on Israel's mysterious bombing run on what some analysts suggested was a nascent Syrian nuclear reactor, Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called on the Israelis and other countries to share information with the agency.
"That to me is very distressful because we have a system," he said. "If countries have information that the country is working on a nuclear-related programme, they should come to us." Israel gave no details on the target of the September 6 airstrike, but Syria denied having such a facility.
Citing satellite images, a Washington-based atomic research institute said Israel appeared to have bombed a facility in northern Syria resembling a North Korean gas graphite nuclear reactor. The Syrians razed the site after the raid.
ElBaradei said the IAEA has not received information about any clandestine nuclear activities in Syria. He said the agency had the authority to investigate any such information.
"But to bomb first and then ask questions later, I think it undermines the system and it doesn't lead to any solution to any suspicion," he said.
The IAEA chief said was he told by the Syrians the site hit by Israel was a military facility with "nothing to do with nuclear".
- Reuters
