"It is my understanding that the Libyans will sign the (NPT additional) protocol," said ElBaradei

TRIPOLI, December 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts met Sunday, December 28, with the head of the Libyan nuclear program and will start inspecting the country’s nuclear sites.

There was no information available on the talks between Matouk Mohamed Matouk and the U.N. delegation under IAEA chief Mohammad ElBaradei, who arrived here a day earlier on a three-day visit, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The experts will later today visit Tajura experimental reactor, 15 kilometers (10 miles) southeast of Tripoli, which has been under IAEA supervision since 1980, IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky confirmed.

According to a western diplomat the reactor "is the heart of the Libyan nuclear program."

On Monday, December 29, ElBaradei is to have talks with Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Mohammed Ghanem, the spokesman said.

That meeting would be followed by "another rendezvous" which observers said might be an audience with Libyan Leader Colonel Muamer Gadhafi in person.

Speaking at the airport upon his arrival Saturday, ElBaradei said he "would like to meet with anybody who has anything to say" about the country's nuclear programs.

He said that if Libyan leader "is available, I should be meeting with him."

ElBaradei's visit comes just one week after Libya made the surprise announcement that it was giving up the development of chemical, biological and nuclear programs.

Asked whether Libya would sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), ElBaradei said: "It is my understanding that the Libyans will sign the protocol," describing the move as "a step in the right direction".

Libya announced on December 22 it was ready to sign the appendix, which allows snap inspections of nuclear facilities.

It also allows the U.N. inspectors wider powers than they enjoy under the NPT.

They can visit shut-down reactors, research centers and factories they suspect may be manufacturing substances of use in a nuclear program.

Last week, ElBaradei said his trip to Tripoli was intended to "take stock of the situation to develop a comprehensive picture of all nuclear activities in Libya and to take whatever corrective actions that need to be taken."

He would discuss with the IAEA board next March to what extent Libya had fallen short of commitments to the NPT, which came into effect in 1970.

Libya signed the NPT in 1969 and ratified it in 1975.

The top U.N. nuclear official previously said the IAEA's scrutiny could begin as early as January 2, adding that the inspectors "will take a first shot at what's going on there and visit some of the relevant facilities."

Tripoli was under international sanctions for years over the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie that killed 270 people.

But the United Nations lifted its embargo in September after Tripoli agreed to pay $2.7 billion in compensation and accept responsibility for the bombing.

U.S. sanctions still remain in place.