IAEA to probe atomic claim in Syria

A UN nuclear watchdog team will visit Syria from June 22-24 to pursue an investigation into US intelligence alleging that Damascus secretly built an atomic reactor, the agency's chief said yesterday.

The alleged reactor site was destroyed in an Israeli air raid last September and Washington handed over intelligence to the International Atomic Energy Agency in April for verification purposes. Syria has denied any covert nuclear arms project.

"It has now been agreed that an agency team will visit Syria during the period 22-24 of June. I look forward to Syria's full cooperation in this matter," IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei told a meeting of the agency's 35-nation board of governors.