Several Egyptian scientists were involved in a series of nuclear
experiments at home and abroad over the past three decades, but there is no
evidence that the Arab nation has a nuclear weapons program, according to
diplomats familiar with the findings of U.N. nuclear inspectors.
Egypt is not under special investigation, the sources said, although
inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are awaiting the results
of tests on several environmental samples taken during recent visits to
government-run nuclear facilities around Cairo.
Although the scope of the Egyptian work is not yet fully known, Western
diplomats who have been briefed on the IAEA's inquiry said there is no evidence
of uranium enrichment or plutonium separation -- the two hallmarks of a nuclear
weapons program.
IAEA inspectors are also satisfied that the experiments, which came to
light in scientific journals published by the Egyptian scientists years after
the work was done, were not directed or organized by the government, diplomats
said.
Mark Gwozdecky, spokesman for the IAEA, would not comment on the
findings.
Some of the experiments in question, including work with uranium
compounds, were conducted during the 1970s and 1980s, and some were done outside
Egypt, according to diplomats who would discuss the case only on the condition
of anonymity.
"The work was sporadic and involved different guys who in some cases
were involved in experiments abroad as part of regular scientific exchanges,"
one diplomat said. One experiment was conducted in France and another in Turkey,
and neither experiment was part of weapons programs in either country.
White House and State Department spokesmen said they had no information
on the IAEA findings, which were the subject of an Associated Press report
yesterday. "We're sure they will look into this matter, and I would just point
out that Egypt is a signatory to the nonproliferation treaty," White House
spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Egypt joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1982, promising to
forgo nuclear weapons and to supply the IAEA with a written declaration of past
nuclear work. But diplomats said Egypt left out some details then, and should
have informed the agency about new ones.
The test results on the samples, expected back in February and March,
will help investigators determine when the experiments were conducted and what
materials were used.
In September, the agency began looking into the Egyptian work during a
routine check, which it conducts in countries that have signed the
Non-Proliferation Treaty. Egyptian officials said publicly then that there was
no nuclear weapons program in the country and that they were working with the
IAEA.
A diplomat familiar with the investigation said Egypt has been
cooperative and has allowed agency inspectors to visit sites, interview
scientists and review government documentation related to the country's atomic
energy program. Officials also said the Egyptian nuclear work is not near the
scale of work in Iran, North Korea, Libya or even South Korea, and that the
IAEA's concerns are over reporting procedures, not clandestine programs.
Some diplomats in Vienna, where the IAEA is based,
expressed concern that the case may be used to embarrass the agency's director
general, Mohamed ElBaradei, who is Egyptian. ElBaradei is seeking a third term,
but the Bush administration, which has clashed repeatedly with the agency over
Iraq, wants him to step down in June.