EGYPT CONDUCTS SECRET NUKE EXPERIMENTS

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Egypt was determined to have conducted nuclear experiments over the last 20 years in activities concealed from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

U.S. officials said the IAEA has found evidence of secret Egyptian nuclear experiments believed to have begun in the 1980s and continued through 2004. Agency sources said the evidence was found in inspections conducted by the IAEA in both Egypt and Libya over the last year.

"The Egyptian nuclear activity is not something we welcome," a U.S. official said. "But it did not cross any line in terms of Egypt's commitment to the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]."

[On Wednesday, Iran agreed to allow the IAEA to inspect the Parchin military complex about 40 kilometers southeast of Teheran, suspected of having harbored a nuclear weapons program. Agency director-general Mohammed El Baradei said inspectors could arrive in Parchin over the next few weeks.]