U.S. President George W. Bush said on Tuesday the recent disclosure of suspected North Korea-Syria nuclear cooperation was intended to send a tough message to Damascus and Pyongyang as well as Tehran over their nuclear ambitions. "We ... wanted to advance certain policy objectives through the disclosure, one would be to the North Koreans to make it abundantly clear that we may know more about you than you think," Bush told a White House news conference.
The United States last week released photos it said proved its accusations of an illicit arms program. Syria has denied the U.S. charges and accused Washington of involvement in an air attack by Israel, which was carried out last year.
The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency has criticized the United States for waiting until this month to share its intelligence. Bush said the information had been withheld at first because of concerns about the risk of "confrontation" or "retaliation." He acknowledged that the disclosure last week was in part aimed at pressuring North Korea to come clean fully on its nuclear and proliferation activities and said it was also meant to send a stern message to Syria.
"And then we have an interest in sending a message to Iran and the world for that matter about just how destabilizing nuclear proliferation would be in the Middle East," Bush added, according to Reuters.
Israeli - Palestinian talks
Bush said Tuesday he was still hopeful of a Middle East peace deal before he left office in January but warned that Hamas could "undermine" the effort.The U.S. leader acknowledged that achieving peace was an uphill task but said he was "still hopeful we will get an agreement by the end of my presidency" in January 2009 on establishing a Palestinian state.
"It's going to be difficult but it's even made more difficult by entities like Hamas who insist upon lobbing rockets into Israel, trying to provoke response and trying to destabilize -- even destabilize the region more," Bush said. "They're the ones who are undermining peace."
Bush charged that Hamas was pursuing "the destruction of Israel" and also attempting to "create enough violence to stop the advance of the two-party state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States, he said, did not want to negotiate with Hamas because "they are a significant problem" to Middle East peace.
According to Bush, Hamas was also trying "to stop the advance of liberty" in the region with assistance from US archrivals Syria and Iran. "Unfortunately, they're getting help. In Syria they get help. There's rumors about Iranian help," Bush said.
