(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-24 07:41

WASHINGTON -- The United States will "soon" announce what it knows about possible nuclear cooperation between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Syria, senior officials of the White House and the Pentagon said Wednesday.

In a Pentagon news conference, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates declined to elaborate details about the DPRK's nuclear cooperation with Syria, but in response to the question when the public would be told about truth, he simply said "soon."

"I think Secretary Gates said it well. 'Soon' is a good, short answer," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters at her daily briefing.

"I'm not going to be able to say much on it today. And I'm not confirming anything at this briefing in regards to the substance," Perino added, declining to give any reason for her silence.

It was reported that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) would tell lawmakers that Israel hit a nuclear site, possibly a reactor, allegedly being constructed with the DPRK help.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the DPRK was helping Syria build a plutonium-producing nuclear reactor before Israel bombed the site last September. The Bush administration is set to tell Congress.

Neither Israel nor the United States has made public information about the strike in Syria, though speculation has been widespread that the targeted site was a nascent nuclear reactor.