*Perilous Times

U.S.: Syria on Nuclear Watch List
*
By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writer

ROME (AP) -- A senior U.S. nuclear official said Friday that North
Koreans were in Syria and that Damascus may have had contacts with
"secret suppliers" to obtain nuclear equipment.

Andrew Semmel, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for nuclear
nonproliferation policy, did not identify the suppliers, but said North
Koreans were in the country and that he could not exclude that the
network run by the disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan may
have been involved.

He said it was not known if the contacts had produced any results.
"Whether anything transpired remains to be seen," he said.

Syria has never commented publicly on its nuclear program. It has a
small research nuclear reactor, as do several other countries in the
region, including Egypt. While Israel and the U.S. have expressed
concerns in the past, Damascus has not been known to make a serious push
to develop a nuclear energy or weapons program.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to
comment on Semmel's remarks but noted that the United States had
long-standing concerns about North Korea and nuclear proliferation.

"We've also expressed, over time, our concerns about North Korea's
activities in terms of dealing with A.Q. Khan and others around the
globe," he told reporters.

McCormack said he was not aware of any countries making inquires to the
United States about the link between North Korea and Syria.

Proliferation experts have said that Syria's weak economy would make it
hard-pressed to afford nuclear technology, and that Damascus - which is
believed to have some chemical weapons stocks - may have taken the
position that it does not also need nuclear weapons.

Semmel was responding to questions about an Israeli airstrike in
northern Syria last week. Neither side has explained what exactly
happened, but a U.S. government official confirmed that Israeli
warplanes were targeting weapons from Iran and destined for Hezbollah
militants in Lebanon.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Israel had gathered satellite
imagery showing possible North Korean cooperation with Syria on a
nuclear facility.

North Korea, which has a long-standing alliance with Syria, condemned
the Israeli air incursion. Israeli experts say North Korea and Iran both
have been major suppliers of Syria's missile stock.

Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal told the Saudi newspaper Asharq
al-Awsat on Thursday that the accusations of North Korean nuclear help
were a "new American spin to cover up" for Israel.

Semmel, who is in Italy for a meeting Saturday on the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty, said Syria was certainly on the U.S. "watch list."

"There are indicators that they do have something going on there," he
said. "We do know that there are a number of foreign technicians that
have been in Syria. We do know that there may have been contact between
Syria and some secret suppliers for nuclear equipment. Whether anything
transpired remains to be seen."

"So good foreign policy, good national security policy, would suggest
that we pay very close attention to that," he said. "We're watching very
closely. Obviously, the Israelis were watching very closely."

Asked if the suppliers could have been North Koreans, he said: "There
are North Korean people there. There's no question about that. Just as
there are a lot of North Koreans in Iraq and Iran."

Asked if the so-called Khan network, which supplied nuclear technology
to Iran, Libya and North Korea, could have been involved, he said he
"wouldn't exclude" it.