Vienna  - The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) refused Thursday to yield to the demand of the United States and other countries to speed up the probe of an Syrian alleged secret nuclear reactor that Israel bombed in 2006.

In response to a US request for a full report on Syria by November, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei told the agency's board that "we will provide a report as and when we have enough facts".

The timing of the report "will not be based on politics", but on the inspector's assessment, ElBaradei said.

He also mentioned that investigations had been slowed down by the assassination of a Syrian intermediary.

In April, the US provided the IAEA with photographs and other evidence indicating Syria had nearly completed an undisclosed reactor in the desert before Israeli warplanes bombed the site.

IAEA inspectors visited the al-Kibar site in June. According to ElBaradei, they have not found any evidence of nuclear materials at the site so far. The location was razed and a new structure was erected after the air attack.

Officials close to the IAEA said that samples were also still being analyzed for graphite, a material used in nuclear reactors.

Without mentioning Israel or the US, ElBaradei criticized both countries for not having shared their suspicions before the "gratuitous use of force" in Syria.

"Once the evidence has been eliminated, it becomes quite difficult for us to establish the facts," the Director General said. "The corpse is gone."

At the board meeting that ended Thursday evening, IAEA members including the United States and European Union countries criticized Syria for not allowing more visits that the nuclear inspectors have asked for.

"Syria's failure to cooperate with inspectors in a full and timely manner is a matter of serious concern," US Ambassador Gregory Schulte said.

ElBaradei told the 35 members on the IAEA board that "the reason that Syria has been late in providing additional information [is] that our interlocutor has been assassinated in Syria".

The Director General was referring to General Mohamed Suleiman, a security adviser to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who was shot by a sniper on August 2, a senior diplomat said.

Syrian Ambassador Mohammad Badi Khattab told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa his authorities were not blocking inspections but had agreed with the nuclear agency to wait for final results of a first visit IAEA visit to the site in June before considering "further developments".

"It's the International Atomic Energy Agency, not the American Atomic Energy Agency", Khattab said in reaction to the call on the IAEA to issue a full report on Syria by November.

Khattab reiterated his country's claim that al-Kibar was a conventional military installation.

The diplomat added that US efforts to prevent a discussion among IAEA members about Israel's nuclear weapons capabilities amounted to a "double standard."

According to Western diplomats, several agency members were disappointed that IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei provided them with only a very brief oral report this week.

One official close to the IAEA said that rather than highlighting the Syria issue, it was the organization's goal to "keep lines of communication clear" with Syria, because inspectors wanted to make further visits to additional sites. (dpa)