International Atomic Energy Agency members today approved a controversial package of nuclear assistance for Syria, rejecting U.S. and Western arguments that such aid would be inappropriate because the nation is under investigation for having covert nuclear activities, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported (see GSN, Nov. 25).
(Nov. 26) -
The IAEA Board of Governors is scheduled to begin meeting tomorrow and is expected to approve a Syrian request for nuclear assistance (Samuel Kubani/Getty Images).
A committee of the agency's 35-nation governing board approved Syria's request for a 3-year, $350,000 study into the feasibility and siting of a nuclear power station. U.S. officials opposed the request, noting that the agency just released a report strongly suggesting that Syria had hidden a nuclear reactor construction project from the world (see GSN, Nov. 19). The full board is scheduled to begin a two-day session tomorrow.
The committee's consensus decision was reached after Western nations agreed to a note accompanying the committee report.
"The (IAEA) secretariat stated that, in the discharge of its functions, it would monitor the project closely, report as appropriate, and ensure than any equipment provided is used only for the purposes intended," the note says.
The project approval followed an unusual statement Monday by agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who chastised critics of the Syrian request for politicizing the agency's technical assistance efforts (Albert Otti, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/MonstersAndCritics.com, Nov. 26).