DUBAI, June 17: There is no evidence Syria has the skilled personnel or the fuel to operate a large-scale nuclear facility, the head of the United Nations atomic watchdog said in remarks aired on Tuesday.

“We have no evidence that Syria has the human resources that would allow it to carry out a large nuclear programme. We do not see Syria having nuclear fuel,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamad ElBaradei told Al Arabiya television.

In an interview with the Dubai-based television station, ElBaradei said the IAEA only had pictures of a site in Syria bombed by Israel last year, which resembled a nuclear facility in North Korea.

Arabiya aired only part of the interview.

The IAEA added Syria to its proliferation watch list in April after receiving US intelligence material, including photographs suggesting Damascus had almost finished building a nuclear reactor in secret with North Korean help before Israel destroyed it in an air strike in September.

Damascus, a US foe and ally of Iran, denies any covert nuclear activity and says the site Israel bombed was a military facility under construction. It has said it would cooperate with a UN investigation into the allegations of nuclear activity.

ElBaradei has said previously that Syria had agreed to a June 22-24 inspection visit to examine the allegations. In the interview, he called on Damascus to cooperate with the IAEA inspectors.

Diplomats have said Syria has refused IAEA requests to examine three sites other than the bombed one.—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Threat perception
Updated 07 Dec, 2024

Threat perception

Despite clear proof of the threat posed by malign armed actors to national security, the military and civilian leadership prefers to focus on political opponents.
Humanity at risk
07 Dec, 2024

Humanity at risk

HUMAN trafficking continues to remain an area where the state has utterly failed its citizens. While global...
Banks and larger goals
07 Dec, 2024

Banks and larger goals

THAT banks in Pakistan “prioritise profit over purpose” and promote financial products with limited knowledge of...
Gaza genocide
Updated 06 Dec, 2024

Gaza genocide

Unless Western states cease their unflinching support to Israel, the genocide is unlikely to end.
Agri tax changes
06 Dec, 2024

Agri tax changes

IT is quite surprising if not disconcerting to see the PPP government in Sindh dragging its feet on the changes to...
AJK unrest
06 Dec, 2024

AJK unrest

THERE is trouble brewing in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where a coalition comprising various civil society organisations...