核専門家チーム、寧辺視察終える
【北京１３日時事】平壌発の新華社電によると、北朝鮮を訪問している米中ロ３カ国の核専門家チームは１３日、５０００キロワットの黒鉛減速炉など寧辺にある核施設の視察を終え、平壌に戻った。
専門家の１人は新華社に対し、１２日からの寧辺視察で黒鉛減速炉のほか、核燃料工場、再処理施設について突っ込んだ調査を行ったと述べた。北朝鮮側は調査に協力的で、米国の専門家が提出した問題に満足できる回答があったという。
専門家チームは視察を踏まえ、１４日に北朝鮮側と核施設無能力化のための具体的措置について討議する。一行は１５日に平壌を離れる予定。
時事ドットコム：核専門家チーム、寧辺視察終える
北朝鮮重油支援２５００万ドル分 米政府、議会に通告
北朝鮮の核問題を めぐり、米政府が連邦議会に対し、２５００万ドル（約２８億５０００万円）の重油支援を行う準備をすすめると通告したことが分かった。ロイター通信が１２日、議会にあてた政府文書を入手し、報じた。支援時期については明確になっていない。
支援は北朝鮮の非核化措置への見返りで、北朝鮮が核施設の無能力化と核計画を申告する第２段階では、各国が９５万トンの重油相当の支援をすることで合意している。初期段階で韓国がすでに５万トンを供給、今後は中国が支援をした後、米国が負担する手はずになっている。
文書は、核施設の稼働停止などの北朝鮮の取り組みについて、「政府としては、米国による（重油の）最初の供給に向けた準備を開始するのに十分だと考える」と評価。さらに「支援を円滑に行うため、柔軟性を確保することが重要だ」などとしている。
２５００万ドルで供給する重油量ははっきりしない。ただ、韓国の支援量や、北朝鮮の備蓄能力が月５万トンに限られることから、米国による支援もまずは５万トンとなる可能性が高そうだ。
asahi.com：北朝鮮重油支援２５００万ドル分 米政府、議会に通告 - 国際
U.S. Officials Confirm Israel Strike on Syria
By REUTERS
Published: September 12, 2007
Filed at 7:06 p.m. ET
Skip to next paragraph Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Wednesday confirmed Israel launched air strikes against Syria last week and said they were to target weapons Israel believes were headed for the militant group Hezbollah.
One defense official dismissed speculation Israel had aimed for any nuclear-related target. Two others said the target included weapons Israeli and U.S. officials have said Iran provides to Hezbollah through Syria.
"They saw a weapons flow," one official said, referring to weapons caches intended for Hezbollah, which fired thousands of rockets into Israel during a 36-day conflict last year.
It was still unclear whether Israel hit its targets in the September 6 air strikes.
Israel has declined comment on the strikes. Syria says the munitions dropped by Israel did no damage.
One U.S. defense official, speaking only on condition of anonymity, said the significance of the strikes was not whether Israel hit its targets, but rather that it displayed a willingness to take military action.
Syria has protested to the United Nations about the air strikes. On Wednesday, Syria's U.N. ambassador said Israel's motive was to torpedo peace moves.
SYRIA AT U.N.
"We think the Israeli purpose behind such an aggressive act is to torpedo the peace process, to torpedo the idea of holding an international conference," Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told reporters.
Asked about Hezbollah's weapons, Ja'afari said, "This is blah, blah. This is nonsense, this is an unfounded statement. It is not up to the Israelis or anyone else to assess what we have in Syria."
"There was no target," he added. "They dropped their munitions. They were running away after they were confronted by our air defense."
Israeli public radio stations, which like all media in the country are under military censorship, led morning news bulletins with a New York Times report that U.S. officials had said Israel carried out the strikes -- and that U.S. officials believed Syria may have obtained nuclear material.
While some officials speculated that Syria and North Korea had opened some form of cooperation on nuclear weapons, other U.S. officials and former intelligence officials told Reuters that seemed unlikely and technically difficult.
A European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters satellite surveillance of an alleged nuclear site in Syria had been inconclusive due to poor weather. However, he said monitoring of this site would continue.
Israeli jets last struck in 2003 across a border that remains tense but quiet 34 years after the last war between the two neighbors ended in an edgy ceasefire. In June last year Syrian guns opened fire on Israeli aircraft over Syria.
Israel has urged Syria to stop supporting militant Palestinian groups and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah.
Some Israeli intelligence officials also have suggested Syria's government might be ready to try to take by force parts of the Golan Heights captured by Israel in the war of 1967.
Syrian officials have said Syria was seeking peaceful means to recover the Golan, although some also have suggested force remained an option if diplomacy failed. Israeli-Syrian peace efforts have been stalled for seven years.
U.S. Officials Confirm Israel Strike on Syria - New York Times