By NNN-KUNA,
Vienna : Chief of the United Nations atomic watchdog Mohamed El-Baradei has said that a team of inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will start a two-day mission in Syria on June 22.
“Syria has granted its acceptance of the mission,” El-Baradei told a meeting of the 35-member IAEA board of governors here Monday.
“The inspectors will verify claims of alleged Syrian nuclear activities and will visit the site bombed by the Israeli warplanes in September, 2007.
“The IAEA received information to the effect that the site of the Syrian reactor which was under construction was designed for nuclear activities,” he said.
El-Baradei criticized Israel for attacking the site before the IAEA had a chance to inspect it.
He also criticized the United States for waiting until April to pass on intelligence suggesting that the reactor had military purposes.
“It is deeply regrettable that information concerning the installation was not provided to the agency in a timely manner and that force was resorted to unilaterally before the agency was given an opportunity to establish the facts.
“I look forward to Syria’s full cooperation in this matter,” he said.
Regarding Iran’s nuclear dossier, El-Baradei said it was time for Tehran to come clean over its past and present nuclear activities, particularly over allegations that it had conducted nuclear research with a possible military dimension.
Noting that the IAEA had spent the past five years seeking to verify Iran’s nuclear ambitions, he said time was running out. “While substantial progress has been made … it is essential that the agency be able to reach a conclusion regarding the nature of Iran’s programme at the earliest possible date,” he added.
As for Libya, he said the cooperation shown by the Arab country to the IAEA in 2004 far exceeded the provisions of the non-proliferation treaty (NPT). “The Libyan nuclear programme was very transparent,” he asserted.