VIENNA — Syria has told fellow Arab countries that it will not permit an International Atomic Energy Agency probe to extend beyond a site bombed by Israel, despite agency interest in three other suspect locations, diplomats said Tuesday.
The agency’s main focus during its planned June 22-24 visit to Syria is a building in the country’s remote eastern desert that was destroyed by Israeli jets in September.
IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei announced Monday that Damascus has agreed to an agency check of U.S. assertions that target was a plutonium-producing reactor that was near completion.
The U.N. agency also is interested in following up on information that Syria may have three other undeclared atomic facilities. But two diplomats briefed on the Syrian stance said a senior official from Damascus had ruled that out.
