The head of the UN nuclear monitoring agency has criticised the US for not giving his organisation intelligence information on an alleged nuclear reactor in Syria. IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei also chastised Israel for bombing the site seven months ago, in a statement whose strong language reflected his anger at being kept out of the picture for so long.The White House broke its silence about the issue on Thursday, just hours after top US legislators - members of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee - were briefed on the alleged reactor which they say was being built by North Korea. US intelligence officials said evidence included dozens of photographs taken from ground level as well as footage of the interior of the building taken by spy satellites after the Israeli strike.
"The director general deplores the fact that this information was not provided to the agency in a timely manner, in accordance with the agency's responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to enable it to verify its veracity and establish the facts," the statement said. Additionally, "the director general views the unilateral use of force by Israel as undermining the due process of verification that is at the heart of the non-proliferation regime," it said.
ElBaradei was briefed by telephone by John Rood, the US under-secretary of state for arms control. Additionally, a senior US official said a US intelligence team was in Vienna to brief IAEA representatives. A senior diplomat linked to the IAEA said ElBaradei had already let his displeasure be known to Rood during the US official's phone call over the delay between the time the information became available to the US and when he was informed of it.