Partial results of samples from a Syrian site bombed by Israel indicate nothing to back up American assertions that the target was a secret nuclear reactor, diplomats said Saturday. The diplomats cautioned that the results from the International Atomic Energy Agency probe are initial because findings of more detailed environmental tests are still outstanding.
Still, two of the three who told The Associated Press said that IAEA officials did not expect the results from the samples still being tested to strongly contradict the first results. All three diplomats were informed of the status of the IAEA probe.
Washington claimed that the Al Kibar site that Israel destroyed in September 2007 was a near-finished plutonium-producing reactor built with North Korean help. Syria denies that.
