Al-Thawra: Syria Wants Peace, Not Nuclear Weapons

The government newspaper Al-Thawra went on the defensive about Syria’s alleged nuclear programme following reports that Damascus will not allow inspectors to look into a suspected nuclear site.



The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, first inspected the Al-Kibar site in north-eastern Syria in June. The state-run news agency, SANA, quoted a foreign ministry source on August 9 as saying that Syria and the IAEA had agreed to let inspectors in “just one time”.



The source also said that Syria is committed to upholding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it signed in 1969.



The inspections were largely based on US claims that Syria was close to developing a nuclear reactor at the site, which Israel bombed in a secret attack in September.



In an editorial published on August 11, Al-Thawra editor-in-chief Asad Abood attacked the US for “continuing to evoke tensions and fear in the region”.



Abood maintained that the US does not distinguish between peaceful and non-peaceful nuclear development, noting that nuclear technology is only dangerous when it becomes a weapon.