Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
|
posted
Russia says it will build nuclear reactor in
Syria!!
By Daniel Sobelman, Ha'aretz Correspondent and Reuters
The Russian foreign ministry has officially announced that Moscow will build a nuclear reactor in Syria, and the project will be discussed Wednesday during a visit to Russia by Syrian Vice President Abed al-Halid Haddam.
The announcement, issued on Tuesday, said that the reactor complex will include such elements as facilities for water desalinization, and would be a part of Russia's program of cooperation with Damascus in the nuclear sphere.
The Russian Tass news agency reported that Moscow and Damascus had already reached agreement on building the reactor, and that the subject is to be on the agenda for the vice president's Wednesday talks with Russian officials.
The foreign ministry announcement, which appeared on its official internet site, said that the two nations had reached "basic agreement" on the construction of a reactor, adding that the cooperative effort was aimed at "peaceful needs."
Syria also sought to have Russian natural gas and oil companies explore for resources within its borders, the ministry announcement said.
Over the past decade there have been numerous reports of Syrian intentions to acquire Russian arms on a broad scale. However, largely due to Syria's inability to finance the purchases, nothing came of these efforts, apart from isolated, limited arms transactions.
Nonetheless, the Bush administration last year voiced concern over efforts by Damascus to equip itself with nuclear arms.
Syria's ambassador to Moscow Wahib Fadel, told the news agency that a bilateral Syrian-Russian commission on economic, scientific and technological cooperation would meet in early March.
The ambassador said Syria was interested in increasing its cooperation with Russia in the security realm, in order to improve his nation's defense capabilities. "It is no surprise that that Syria's weaponry is mainly derived from Soviet and Russian equipment," Fadel said.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/p...SubContrassID=0
![[fie]](graemlins/fie.gif)
This is an extremely significant development, one that is likely to put Damascus on Bush's radar screen. It will be interesting to see how the US reacts - I can imagine there is a lot of consternation in the government over this.
--------------------
God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged | 
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
