VIENNA, 20 January 2004 — The United States agreed yesterday that the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, will oversee Libya’s disarmament but Washington will help in the effort, the head of the UN agency said following talks in Vienna.

The United States and Britain will provide logistical support to the inspection missions carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the agency’s director Mohamed El-Baradei.

“I think we have agreement on what needs to be done. Clearly the agency role is very clear that we need to do the verification,” El-Baradei said following talks with US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton and British envoy William Ehrman.

The meeting came amid a turf battle over who should take the leading role in verifying that Libya is making good on its promise to give up nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs.

IAEA, US and British weapons inspectors have all been to Libya since Tripoli announced the shift in mid-December following months of secret negotiations between Tripoli, London and Washington.

The US administration of George W. Bush had accused the IAEA of rushing into Libya, suggesting that Washington wants its own inspectors to play a larger role in verifying Libya’s disarmament.

But El-Baradei said that “obviously we do the verification, to make sure that we have seen everything in Libya” and that all weapons programs have been declared.

Then the IAEA will need help with moving weapons equipment out of Libya or destroying it. “Clearly we will need American and British support with logistics,” El-Baradei said. “I think the meeting was (aimed at) trying to agree and coordinate our activities both for verification and logistical support.”

“I think we have reached a good agreement on how to proceed,” he said, adding that consultations would continue.

Bolton did not confirm the specifics of what El-Baradei said, only saying that it was “a very productive meeting. I think we are on the same page with the IAEA.”

El-Baradei said: “We are trying to move fast. It is important we move fast.”