Israel warned the United States that North Korea might be sharing nuclear know-how with Damascus before it carried out an air strike deep inside Syria, the Washington Post reported Friday.
Washington was "deeply troubled" by the Israeli intelligence showing North Korean nuclear personnel were in Syria, but US President George W. Bush decided against an immediate response out of concern it could derail delicate talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its own nuclear program, the Post said, citing unnamed US officials.
After Israel shared its intelligence with the Bush administration in recent months, which included satellite imagery, the United States provided Israel with some confirmation of the original information before Israel went ahead with the night air raid on September 6, the Post reported. The quality of the Israeli intelligence, the nature of North Korea's assistance and the seriousness of Syria's atomic activities remained uncertain, the Post wrote.
President George W. Bush on Thursday declined to comment on the reported Israeli raid against a suspected nuclear site in Syria. The White House on Friday referred reporters back to his position. "I think I know when to follow the lead of the boss and I think when he says 'no comment' it means 'no comment,'" said spokesman Tony Fratto.
"There are lots of things that we know about and learn about in this building that we don't share with you from this podium," he added. On Thursday, Bush warned North Korea against supplying nuclear know-how to other countries, saying key multilateral talks with Pyongyang could only succeed if it met all its pledges.
"We expect them to honour their commitment to give up weapons and weapons programs and to the extent that they are proliferating, we expect them to stop their proliferation," Bush told reporters. He also warned against states sharing "information and/or materials" linked to nuclear weapons.
In a landmark six-nation deal brokered in February, the communist regime in Pyongyang agreed to dismantle all its nuclear facilities and programs in exchange for diplomatic concessions, energy and other aid. The reported air strike against Syria has been shrouded in secrecy and the Israeli government has kept up a wall of silence.