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Damascus: International nuclear detectives are at work in the Syrian sands following American allegations of covert nuclear activity, in a trip that could well determine Syria's international fate.
In Damascus, the inquiry has been met with both a sense of foreboding and cautious optimism. While the country fears Iran-like isolation, it hopes that by opening its doors to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) it can prevent any global sanctions.
"What's driving Syria right now is an anxiety about becoming a pariah," said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma.
With claims of illicit nuclear activity continuing to swirl over Syria's head however, Syrians are concerned that it could yet become a pariah state like Iran. An editorial in Syria's Al Watan newspaper on Monday said America's nuclear claim is a "sword hanging over Syria ... in what resembles a blackmail policy that might later turn into direct targeting".
It is these fears that prompted Syria, against all expectations, to cooperate with IAEA, said analysts.
"Iran can afford to thumb their nose at the West because they have so much money coming in from oil that will help insulate them from sanctioning," said Landis. "Syria doesn't have a cushion like that."
Already suffering severe economic difficulties, the government, which trades economic provision for domestic legitimacy, can ill-afford international sanctions in addition to those already put in place by the United States. But even as Syria has opened the bombed site to IAEA inspectors, it has maintained a tight grip over proceedings, drawing comparisons to Iran, which in recent years has provided the UN nuclear watchdog only limited access to its nuclear facilities. A request by IAEA to visit three other sites was denied by Syrian officials, and local and international press have been given no access.
"The reality here is that there's some pretty strong evidence out there about what Syria was doing .... It's important that IAEA be allowed to fully investigate that facility and any other one that they might find of interest to them," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said last week.
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