The UN atomic agency has determined that Cairo is guilty of repeated failures to report nuclear materials and activities and this is "a matter of concern," a senior diplomat close to the agency said.

According to AFP, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also found traces of plutonium in so-called hot cells, the diplomat said, reading from a report by the agency.

He noted however that Egypt was cooperating in the probe and that the incidents were small, with some taking place as long as 40 years ago.

The Egypt report will be submitted to a meeting that opens in Vienna February 28 of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors, which decides whether to take nations that violate safeguard before the Security Council.

Last month, Egypt admitted to failing to signal a "number of research experiments" to the IAEA, after diplomats said the agency was investigating an Egyptian lab that could be used to make plutonium, a nuclear weapons material.

© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)