Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has snubbed UN atomic watchdog chief Yukiya Amano who is on his first visit to Israel, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had asked to meet with Netanyahu months ago, but the scheduled meeting was abruptly cancelled last week as the premier planned to go on holiday, the paper said.

It said the meeting had been due to take place on Monday afternoon, shortly after the IAEA chief landed in Israel and a few hours before the premier was due to start his holiday.

The daily cited a diplomat familiar with the visit as saying Amano was told that the meeting had been canceled due to Netanyahu's vacation.

"Netanyahu's decision to cancel his meeting with Amano raised eyebrows on Monday, particularly given the premier's fixation on Iran's nuclear programme," Haaretz said.

Asked about the report, a senior official who asked not to be named said he was "not aware that that is true."

The visit comes against a backdrop of demands by some IAEA members that Israel, generally considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear-armed power, sign up to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Netanyahu last month secured assurances from US President Barack Obama that a proposed 2012 conference on establishing a nuclear weapons-free Middle East would not single out Israel.

Israeli President Shimon Peres, considered to be the father of Israel's nuclear programme, is due to meet Amano in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Amano held talks on Monday with the head of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, Shaul Chorev, and was due to tour the Soreq Nuclear Research Centre, whose activities are monitored by the IAEA, Haaretz said.

The IAEC, which invited Amano, and the IAEA did not immediately provide details of the trip.

Israel is to raise with Amano its concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, which the Jewish state, the United States and other Western countries believe is ultimately aimed at producing an atomic bomb.

Iran, which on Saturday began loading fuel into its Russian-built first nuclear power plant, denies the allegations, saying its programme is for civil energy purposes only.

Ties between the IAEA and Israel were chilly during the tenure of Amano's predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei.

earlier related report
Kuwait concerned over Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant
Kuwait City (AFP) Aug 24, 2010 - Kuwait has expressed safety concerns over Iran's new nuclear reactor on the opposite side of the Gulf, fearing fallout from possible leaks, the official news agency KUNA reported.

"Kuwait's concern is based on fears of any leaks due to natural causes that may have future consequences," foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said, quoted by KUNA late on Monday.

Kuwait is the nearest country to the Russian-built nuclear plant in the Iranian city of Bushehr, located like Kuwait in the northern Gulf.

Iran loaded the Bushehr facility with nuclear fuel last Saturday and the United States said there was no "proliferation risk" from the civilian plant because of Russian involvement.

A number of Kuwaiti MPs, however, have called on the government to take precautionary measures against any incident from Iran's first nuclear plant.

But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters at his weekly press conference on Tuesday that the Bushehr plant adheres to "high standards" and had the seal of approval of the UN nuclear watchdog.

"Due to the high standards with regards to safeguards in the Bushehr nuclear power plant, there should be no concern about it," he said. "The International Atomic Energy Agency has approved the safeguards in the Bushehr plant."

Later on Tuesday, a Kuwaiti envoy met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran and expressed his country's desire to increase cooperation with Iran.

"It is necessary that the two countries increase cooperation and ties in different fields," Mohammad Abdullah Abolhassan was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency after delivering a written message from the Kuwaiti emir to Ahmadinejad.

"Today, Kuwait is seeking to strengthen and deepen its ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran in every aspect."

Ahmadinejad too expressed "trust" in Iran's relations with Kuwait.

He said the two countries are proceeding "jointly on issues... Iran and Kuwait have cultural similarities. They can raise the level of cooperation and ties between the two countries," Ahmadinejad said.

According to Kuwaiti media, a senior Iranian official is expected in the emirate within days, possibly to discuss the nuclear plant issue.

Meanwhile, during a brief visit to Kuwait on Monday, following talks in Tehran, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani said in a statement carried by KUNA that the Bushehr plant was Iran's business.

"If the plant is peaceful and for power use according to our information, then this is a legitimate right for Iran under international law and we do not want to change this framework at the present time," he said.