North Korea On the Spot
Newly declassified spy photos suggesting North Korean involvement in the construction of a Syrian nuclear reactor, which was heavily damaged in an Israeli bombing raid last year, have raised fresh questions about the facility's murky history—and about whether the disclosure of the images could derail a pending nuclear disarmament deal between Washington and Pyongyang.
Prior to last week's unveiling of the photos, U.S. and Israeli officials had refused to discuss publicly the September 2007 raid. Even now, U.S. officials acknowledge that they're still withholding key information about the provenance of the photos in order to protect sources and methods. But according to one senior intelligence official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, the "handheld" photos taken from inside the reactor were gathered "over a period of time," indicating that whoever took them was somehow able to breach the building's inner sanctum on a consistent basis. Among the few photos released to the media: a shot of a fuel-rod system whose design closely resembled the one at North Korea's Yongbyon plutonium plant.
Intelligence officials briefed select congressional leaders on the Syrian plant after the Israeli bombing raid. At a media briefing last week, a senior official said that the administration decided to keep the public—and the full membership of congressional intel committees—in the dark at Israel's request, and to avoid provoking Syrian retaliation. Pundits speculated that the timing of the North Korea-Syria disclosures hint at a plot by marginalized administration hardliners, such as Vice President Dick Cheney, to sabotage the nuclear-disarmament deal. But two current U.S. officials said that, in fact, the disclosures are part of a well-crafted diplomatic strategy to nudge Syria toward peace with Israel and to pressure North Korea to disclose its nuclear-proliferation activities. One of the officials told NEWSWEEK that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefed Chinese officials about the Syrian reactor project late last year. After examining the evidence, the official said, Beijing agreed to toughen its stance toward Kim Jong Il's regime.
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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