Syria drops bid for IAEA

VIENNA, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Syria dropped its bid Friday to join the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Middle East and South Asia group had been set to vote to choose between Syria and Afghanistan as its representative on the board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, reported.

Ibrahim Othman, the head of the Syrian delegation to the agency, said the country decided it did not want a "diplomatic confrontation." Other sources suggested the hostility of the United States and its allies in Western Europe were the reason.

The United States charges that Syria is trying to develop a military nuclear program.