Bush administration releases images of Syrian reactor

The release by the Bush administration of photographic images to support its assertion that North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor closes one chapter of a secretive intelligence and military operation and opens several others that will play out over the remainder of the Bush presidency.

The crucial question now is how the North Koreans will react. Some officials said they hoped it would embarrass the North Koreans into admitting to nuclear proliferation activities and others said that it could prompt them to walk away from the negotiating table - and collapse the deal Bush was hoping to reach by the end of his presidency. In return for North Korea's declaring all its nuclear activities, the United States would lift sanctions and begin to negotiate the prize for North Korea's turning over its fuel and weapons.

It also raises the possibility of new tensions with Syria, as the White House accused the Syrian government on Thursday of a "cover-up" consistent with a government that "supports terrorism, takes action that destabilizes Lebanon" and allows militants to enter Iraq.

The Bush administration released the detailed images Thursday in an effort to prove that the building in Syria that Israel destroyed in an airstrike last year was a nuclear reactor constructed with years of help from North Korea.

The administration said Thursday that it withheld the pictures for seven months out of fear that Syria could retaliate against Israel and start a broader war in the Middle East.