N. Korea helped Syria build nuke reactor: U.S.

The U.S. says Syria was building a nuclear reactor with assistance from North Korea. The facility which was bombed by Israel in a secret attack last September ‘was not intended for peaceful purposes’, according to the statement issued by White House Press

Now the U.S. says the alleged reactor resembled the North Korean nuclear facility at Yongbyon.

“Until Sept. 6, 2007, the Syrian regime was building a covert nuclear reactor in its eastern desert capable of producing plutonium. We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria's covert nuclear activities,” Press Secretary Dana Perino said in the statement.

U.S. intelligence officials are set to reveal documents they say give evidence to that.

Meanwhile, the Syrian and North Korean governments have denied the claims.

“We said it many times in the past. There was no Syrian-North Korean co-operation whatsoever in Syria. We deny these rumours,” Syrian Ambassador to the UN, Bashar Jaafari said.