Bombed Syrian Reactor Was 'Nearing Completion'

Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 4:37:01 pm PST

Syria was apparently very close to having the means to produce nuclear weapons, with the help of North Korea: Bombed Syrian reactor was nearly complete.

The Bush administration will tell Congress tomorrow that a nuclear facility in Syria built with North Korean help was nearly complete when Israel bombed it in September, and that Pyongyang has not provided any further nuclear assistance to the hard-line Arab nation, at least at that site, U.S. officials said.

CIA Director Michael V. Hayden and other intelligence officials are expected to brief several congressional committees in closed-door sessions, breaking the administration’s silence on the issue.

The Syrian facility has become a key issue in six-nation negotiations to end the North’s nuclear programs.

“The fact is that the reactor was nearing completion,” said one official familiar with the content of the briefings. “It would have been able to produce plutonium.”