VIENNA, June 4: The United States warned Syria on Wednesday not to hinder a probe by the UN’s atomic watchdog into allegations that Damascus had been building a clandestine nuclear facility.

“It is imperative that Syria fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and in no way hinder the investigation either by further delaying an inspection or by refusing the IAEA unfettered access to any site requested by the IAEA,” US ambassador to the Vienna-based watchdog, Gregory Schulte said in a statement.

The IAEA has said it will send a team of experts to Damascus later this month to investigate allegations that a building bombed by Israeli planes in September had been a covert nuclear reactor — built with North Korea’s help — that was close to becoming operational.

The agency has refused to divulge any information about the trip, aside from the date, June 22-24. US media reports have said Damascus would only allow inspectors to visit the remote site in the Syrian desert, Al-Kibar, and not two or three other suspect sites that the IAEA was interested in.

A diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Syria had informed other Arab League countries on the sidelines of an IAEA board meeting that Damascus had indeed agreed to let the experts inspect Al-Kabir.

But no other locations had been specified, the diplomat said.

In April, the United States turned over intelligence alleging the building at Al-Kibar was an undeclared nuclear reactor, close to completion, but not yet supplied with the necessary nuclear material.

Damascus has dismissed the accusations as “ridiculous”.

However, it wiped the destroyed site clean of rubble late last year and erected a new building where the destroyed one had stood, making any possible investigation by the IAEA more difficult.

In comments to newspapers in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad again strongly denied the allegations. “If anyone had a secret dossier on nuclear facilities in Syria with a Korean role, as they claim, then why did they wait for seven months before destroying a normal military facility by the Israeli raid?” al-Assad said in comments reported by the Gulf News.

“Why did they not resort to the UN nuclear energy organisation to carry out an inspection?” he asked.

“Acquiring nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is an international trend that all countries are rightfully pursuing. In Syria, we want this to be done within an Arab context, which was discussed and agreed during the Arab summit in Riyadh.” IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei had said on Monday that the watchdog was treating the information seriously.—AFP