The Jerusalem Post ran an article September 20, which may very well be the first article, linking whatever it was in Syria that was attacked by Israel in early September, to wider nuclear proliferation concerns. The article by Yaakov Katz stated:
This week, Khan’s name again made headlines – this time over suspicions that his black-market ring was behind the supply of nuclear technology and material to the facility that Israel – according to foreign news reports – bombed two weeks ago in northern Syria.
Last Friday, acting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Andrew Semmel said that though he could not name suppliers, there were North Korean officials in Syria, and that he could not rule out the possibility that Khan’s network was involved in transferring the nuclear material that Israel allegedly destroyed. It is still unclear whether North Korea was sending its technology to Syria for safekeeping while supposedly having abandoned nuclear installations inspected by the IAEA, or whether it had actually sold the technology to Syria.