BICOM

The embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria faced a new challenge this week, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted yesterday to issue a rebuke to Damascus over an undeclared nuclear reactor. The motion, tabled by the US, found Syria to be in ‘non-compliance’ with its international obligations, because of the secret construction of a plutonium reactor in Deir Alzour. Glyn Davies, US Ambassador to the IAEA, said that the intention of the reactor was clear – namely, the generation of nuclear energy for use in nuclear weapons. The reactor was built with North Korean assistance, according to reports. In September 2007 the reactor was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. At the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, 17 countries voted in favour of the motion, with six opposed. Among those states opposing the motion were Russia and China. The motion supported referring the issue to the UN Security Council. The last country to face a similar referral over its nuclear programme was Iran, in 2006.

In other Syria related news, British and French ambitions to submit a draft resolution to the Security Council condemning Syria for its hardline response to antigovernment protests have hit am impasse due to Russian opposition. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said yesterday that Moscow rejects any external interference in the Syria issue, adding ‘the problem should be resolved by Syrians themselves’ within the law and without violence against civilians, and that the international community should give the Syrian authorities time for their planned reforms.