By KUNA,
Washington : Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha dismissed late on Thursday the US Administration’s claim about his country’s nuclear reactor and pledged that Damascus would “deconstruct” this story.
“Syria does not have plans to acquire nuclear technology, even for peaceful and civilian purposes,” said Moustapha in a press briefing.
CIA Director Michael Hayden briefed earlier today Congressional leaders on the Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Armed Services Committees about the role of North Korea in building a nuclear reactor building in Syria, raided by Israel last September.
“We are not in this business now and we do not see Syria acquiring nuclear technology in the foreseeable future,” he said, adding that Damascus understands “what could happen to any country that acquires this technology.” Intelligence officers reportedly showed Congress a videotape from inside the facility and pictures of it before and after the Israeli jet raid.
Moustapha described the evidence presented by the US Administration as “ridiculous” and a “computer generated photos of nuclear facilities generated in Washington.” “We will deconstruct this story and how it was fabricated,” affirmed Moustapha, noting that the story will “backfire on and embarrass” the US administration.
Mustapha disclosed that some CIA staff members are “extremely unhappy about this story and leaked to the media their discomfort.” “We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria’s covert nuclear activities,” said the White House in a statement last Thursday.
“We are not involved with North Korea in any illegitimate or internationally banned activities,” noted Moustapha while adding that North Korea “is not involved whatsoever in this building” raided by Israeli jets.
He said that the site was “a vacant military building,” questioning how could a nuclear site be situated in the middle of desert with no checkpoints, security measures, electricity, water cooling system and canals to process plutonium.
The Syrian diplomat said that the question is why the US administration is bringing up now this issue and for what end.
He argued that the true purpose behind this campaign is that some elements inside the US administration are “unhappy” with any agreement with North Korea on ending its nuclear program.
Mustapha added that those elements inside the Administration want to “undermine” this agreement by tying “unrealistic conditions” to it.
Moustapha said that Syria is a sovereign country that was attacked by Israeli jets last September and the United States as a “moral” leader of the world did not do anything about it.
“It is our legitimate right to defend ourselves and build military capacity, ” he added, noting that the Syrian military builtup would not even match the Israeli one.
Moustapha noted that if Washington engages with Syria, this would serve the national interests of the United States, Syria and “countries very deep to US heart” in the region.
“We told US Administration many times that Syria is not an enemy of the United States,” he added.
Moustapha said the US Administration intends to “create more crisis to present the Middle East as an extremely dangerous” to justify US policy in the region.
He added that some congressional leaders are pressuring the US administration for a dialogue with Syria and speculated that this story about nuclear reactor could be “one way to preempt pressure” by Congress to engage with Syria.
Moustapha reminded that top US officials had this claim in mind since 2003 when they made statements after the fall of Baghdad accusing Syria of owning “huge stockpile of Weapons of Mass Destruction.”