North Korea gave Syria nuclear help: US official

Washington: In a move that could upset Washington's policy towards North Korea, US intelligence officials are set to tell lawmakers this week that Pyongyang shared nuclear know-how with Syria, one official said Wednesday.

The United States has concluded that the Stalinist regime's help came both before and after a Syrian nuclear reactor being built in secret with North Korean help was destroyed, said the official, who requested anonymity.

"If it had been complete, the reactor would have been capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, but it was destroyed before it could do so," the official said. "That's the result of solid intelligence."

The official did not specify who had destroyed the facility, but Israel carried out an airstrike inside Syrian territory in September in a move widely reported to have targeted a nuclear site.

"The reactor was put out of commission before it was loaded with nuclear fuel, before it became operational," the official said.

"It was not designed to produce electricity," the official emphasized.

US intelligence officials plan to brief US lawmakers from key committees on Thursday, amid deep concern in Congress about progress in six-country talks to dismantle North Korea's nuclear programs.

The revelation was expected to cloud prospects for President George W. Bush's aggressive efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis before he leaves office in January 2009.

The White House declined to confirm details of the briefings, but spokeswoman Dana Perino and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said separately that information on the issue could "soon" be made public.

Asked when the public would be told about what US intelligence believes about such collaboration, Gates told a Pentagon news conference: "Soon." He refused to elaborate.

"I think Secretary Gates said it well. 'Soon' is a good, short answer," Perino told reporters amid a flurry of news reports that North Korea had aided Syria in a covert drive to obtain nuclear capability.

"I'm not going to be able to say much on it today. And I'm not confirming anything at this briefing in regards to the substance," Perino.

Starting late Tuesday, US media outlets, citing unnamed US officials, said that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) would tell lawmakers from key committees that Israel hit a nuclear site, possibly a reactor, being constructed with North Korean help.

The news came at a particularly sensitive time for the six-country agreement aimed at stripping North Korea of its nuclear programs, months after Pyongyang was supposed to have formally "declared" the extent of its nuclear and proliferation activities.

The deadline for the declaration under the February 2007 deal was December 31, 2007.

Washington earlier this week sent a team of experts to North Korea and China in what could be a last-ditch effort at securing such a declaration amid growing signs that Bush may scale back his demands on Pyongyang.

Washington says Pyongyang should not only account for its plutonium program but also clear up suspicions about an alleged uranium enrichment program and suspected proliferation -- claims denied by North Korea.