PAMELA HESS
WASHINGTON

A Syrian nuclear reactor allegedly built with North Korean help and destroyed last year by Israeli jets was within weeks or months of being functional, a top American official claimed yesterday.

The facility was mostly complete but still needed testing before it could be declared operational, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

However, no uranium, which is needed to fuel a reactor, was evident at the remote site along the Euphrates River in in eastern Syria.

The reactor was similar in design to a North Korean reactor at Yongbyon that has produced small amounts of plutonium, US officials said. Plutonium is highly radioactive and can be used to make powerful nuclear weapons or radiological bombs.

Top members of a congressional intelligence committee said after being briefed on the facility by intelligence and administration officials that the reactor posed a serious threat of spreading dangerous nuclear materials.

"This is a serious proliferation issue, both for the Middle East and the countries that may be involved in Asia," said Pete Hoekstra, a Republican congressman, after the closed-doors hearing.

CIA director Michael Hayden, director of national intelligence Mike McConnell and national security adviser Stephen Hadley briefed politicians, who were shown intelligence information that the administration contends establishes a strong link between North Korea's nuclear programme and the bombed Syrian site.

Hoekstra and committee chairman Silvestre Reyes, a Democrat, were angry that the Bush administration had delayed briefing the committee for eight months.

The Syrian site has been veiled in secrecy until now, with intelligence and government officials refusing to confirm the site was for a nuclear reactor.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush stood by the statement he made in October 2006 when he described North Korea as one of the leading proliferators of missile technology, including transfers to Iran and Syria. The briefings come at a critical time in the diplomatic effort to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons.

Syria has signed an international treaty requiring it to disclose nuclear interests and activity. The intelligence shines a light on its alleged malfeasance and makes it easier for Israel to explain its decision to destroy the site.

Syria has not declared the alleged reactor to the International Atomic Energy Agency, nor was it under international safeguards, possibly putting Syria in breach of an international nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

In the Syrian capital, Damascus, Suleiman Haddad, head of the foreign relations committee, said the videotape did not deserve a response.

"America is looking for any problem in order to accuse Syria," Haddad said, adding: "America is trying to create an atmosphere of war in the region."

Israeli warplanes bombed the site in Syria on September 6. A new, larger building has been constructed in its place.

In breaking its official silence on the Israeli air strike, the Bush administration is taking the risk that Syria could be angered by the public disclosures and could seek to retaliate against Israel.

US officials were also briefing the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, at its base in Vienna.