VIENNA, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Friday approved a US proposal to create a special committee to handle verification and safeguards problems.

    Director-General of the UN nuclear agency Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters that the creation of the committee on safeguards and verification will strengthen the IAEA's ability to monitor andenforce compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and related agreements.

    The committee will help the agency to deal with such new challenges to the non-proliferation regime as the smuggling of nuclear materials, nuclear terrorism and member states' clandestine nuclear programs, ElBaradei said at the end of a five-day meeting of the IAEA's board of governors.

    "A new committee would usefully explore how the safeguards system could be further strengthened," ElBaradei said.

    The board decided to set up the committee as its subordinate group, which will work as a consultative body of the board, assistthe agency in carrying out its function of safeguarding and monitoring and present recommendations to the board, according to sources.

    The tenure of the committee will be two years, and after that the board will evaluate its efficiency and determine its future. The committee will be open to all member states of the agency.

    During the meeting of the 35-nation board of governors, its member states discussed the nuclear issues of Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), re-elected ElBaradeias its chief and ratified the "small quantities protocol" agreement between Saudi Arabia and the agency which is designed tomake inspections less burdensome in countries with small nuclear programs. Enditem