VIENNA, Austria - The United States and the U.N. atomic agency agreed yesterday to work together in examining, cataloging and scrapping Libya's nuclear weapons program, ending weeks of squabbling over who has the authority to do so.
The deal was reached by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, senior British arms expert William Ehrman, and U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, a critic of the IAEA policy on Libya and Iran.
Following the meeting at the offices of the U.S. mission to the IAEA, ElBaradei said the agreement gave his agency the role of establishing the scope and content of Libya's nuclear program. Once IAEA verification was complete, U.S. and British experts would remove suspect materials from the North African country, he said.
Diplomats familiar with the agency said the IAEA also was claiming the right to verify that all contentious equipment and material had been removed or rendered unusable.
Tensions over who does what in Libya had spilled over into heated public discussion in recent weeks, with the IAEA insisting it had the mandate to take the lead on nuclear issues.
Bush administration officials had said U.S. and British experts should have the leading role in identifying and destroying Tripoli's nuclear weapons program because U.S.-British talks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi led to his decision to renounce weapons of mass destruction.
Differing characterizations of the state of Libya's program had fueled the dispute: The IAEA has said Libya was nowhere near producing a weapon, while Washington and London contended it was further along than the agency realizes.
Both sides were eager yesterday to end the disputes.
It was a very productive meeting. I think we're on the same page with the IAEA on this very important project
Bolton said after the session at the U.S. mission in Vienna.
ElBaradei called the meeting very constructive adding: I think it went very well.
