WASHINGTON — Independent experts have pinpointed what they believe to be the site in Syria that was bombed by Israel last month, and satellite imagery shows buildings under construction roughly similar in design to a North Korean reactor capable of producing nuclear material for one bomb a year, the experts say.
Photos of the site taken before the secret Sept. 6 raid were analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security.
Israeli officials and the White House declined to comment.
Israel has not said publicly what its warplanes hit or provided justification for the raid. Syria has denied having a nuclear program. But beginning construction of a nuclear reactor in secret would violate Syria’s obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Additional world news briefs:
Israeli missile kills militant, draws threats
GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP — Israel killed a top Gaza militant with a missile strike on his car Tuesday, prompting threats of more rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli border towns.
Earlier in the day, a Palestinian prisoner died of injuries sustained during a riot Monday at an Israeli desert prison.
Mubarak al-Hassanat, 37, was the most prominent militant to be killed in an air assault in more than a year.
“His blood will be fuel for our rockets,” a militant spokesman told Hamas Radio.
The Israeli Prisons Service said the prisoner died Tuesday hours after he was hit by a “nonlethal weapon” fired by guards.
Hamas hinted that in retaliation, it might harm Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in June 2006. However, Shalit is a bargaining chip for Hamas, which seeks the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Bin Laden calls for war in Darfur
CAIRO — Osama bin Laden renewed his call for a holy war against a proposed peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region in a message that appeared on websites Tuesday.
Bin Laden called for foreign forces to be driven from Darfur: “It is the duty of the people of Islam in the Sudan and its environs, especially the Arabian Peninsula, to perform jihad against the Crusader invaders and wage armed rebellion to remove those who let them in.”
Bin Laden referred to talks in March and April between Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and Saudi officials.
Nobel winners urge U.N. aid for Myanmar dissident
LONDON — Female Nobel Peace Prize winners urged the United Nations on Wednesday to take decisive action to secure the release of Myanmar’s leading democracy activist, Aung San Suu Kyi. In a letter to mark the 12th year of Suu Kyi’s house arrest, her fellow female Nobel peace laureates expressed “grave disappointment” that a U.N. call for her release has been ignored by Myanmar’s military junta.
France to require immigrant language and DNA tests
PARIS — French lawmakers adopted a bill on Tuesday that would institute language exams and potential DNA testing for prospective immigrants. The DNA amendment is meant to ensure that claims of family ties are true. The rest of the bill requires that prospective immigrants take a language test and an exam on fundamental French values.
