A U.S. Senator says that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee received information several years ago that Myanmar intended to develop nuclear weapons with the help of North Korea.

The Washington Post reported that it obtained a written statement by Republican Senator Richard Lugar before it was announced Friday. Lugar is the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The paper said the Senate Foreign Relations Committee got information on Myanmar’s alleged collaboration with North Korea about five years ago and that it had delivered the details to government officials.

Prior to that, Lugar had, in April, submitted a bill demanding the U.S. government to report information on Myanmar’s alleged nuclear and military cooperation with North Korea to Congress.

Although there had been suspicions about nuclear weapons collaboration between Myanmar and North Korea, this is the first time claims of the U.S. Congress having concrete information during President George W. Bush’s tenure have surfaced.