Traces of uranium found at a Syrian site bombed by Israel are not sufficient evidence of undeclared nuclear activity, the director of International Atomic Energy Agency said.

Samples taken from a Syrian site bombed by Israel last year contained traces of uranium combined with other elements that merit further investigation, diplomats said.

Syria said that an Islamist militant group active in Lebanon was behind a suicide car bombing that killed 17 people in Damascus in September.

Judging by news accounts and images shown on television, it seemed likely that the government had orchestrated the protest.

Thousands of people demonstrated in an apparently stage-managed protest of the American military raid across the Iraqi border into Syrian territory on Sunday.

A Syrian court sentenced 12 prominent dissidents to two and a half years each in prison on for calling for democratic reforms and an end to the Baath Party’s monopoly on power.

The move was in retaliation for a raid into Syria on Sunday by American forces, Syria’s official news agency said.

The move was in retaliation for a raid into Syria on Sunday by U.S. Special Operations forces, Syria’s official news agency said.

The operation appeared to reflect an effort by the Bush administration to find a way to attack militants even beyond the borders of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The U.S. confirmed that a mission took place in the area of an attack that Iran and Syria said killed eight people.