More on the Israeli raid on Syria....

More confirmation it was a nuclear facility - built with the cooperation of the North Koreans...

Israel has admitted for the first time that an air strike in Syria last year was aimed at a nuclear facility built with assistance from North Korea.

The Japanese daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun cited sources at the Japanese foreign ministry for its report of a meeting between Ehud Olmert, the prime minister of Israel, and Yasuo Fukuda, his Japanese opposite number.

Mr Olmert is reported to have admitted that Israel carried out the bombing last September and that the target was a nuclear-related facility built using technical assistance from Pyongyang.

According to the paper's sources, Mr Olmert told Mr Fukuda that the site was a nuclear-related facility under construction with advice and assistance from North Korean technicians.

The sources added that Mr Olmert said Israel remained concerned about nuclear proliferation by North Korea and was seeking greater information sharing with Tokyo on the issue.