UNITED NATIONS – A recent maneuver by Saudi Arabia to limit international inspection of its atomic capabilities has raised suspicions that the kingdom could be preparing to go nuclear.

The Saudis are calling for the implementation of a provision of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that allows countries that are not suspected of having nuclear aspirations to forgo heavy inspection of their facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The provision, known as the “small quantities protocol,” allows such countries – mostly in the developing world – to possess small amounts of uranium and plutonium without outside scrutiny. The protocol has been known as a loophole in the NPT, and according to the Associated Press – which first reported on the Saudi move – the IAEA has little choice but to approve Riyadh’s request.

Several Vienna-based Western diplomats, who spoke to The New York Sun on condition of anonymity as they were unauthorized to make official comments, said that there has been no recent indication of any new nuclear drive in the kingdom. But they added that neighboring Iran’s nuclear status could change the regional balance.

“They are certainly behaving like they have something to hide,” author Gerald Posner told the Sun when asked about Saudi nuclear aspirations. In “Secrets of the Kingdom,” his recently published book on the house of Saud, Mr. Posner detailed suspicions that the Saudis rigged oil facilities with radioactive materials. Detonating a “dirty bomb” would render the kingdom’s vast oil fields useless in the case that anyone tried to overthrow the current regime. Riyadh might harbor larger nuclear aspirations as well, Mr. Posner added.

A former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Dore Gold, who last year published the book “Hatred’s Kingdom,” pointed to the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. “There is a long history, going over several decades, of military cooperation between the Saudis and Pakistan,” Mr. Gold told the Sun. “The Saudis financed the Pakistani nuclear research, “and the possibility that that this may have led to a Saudi nuclear program cannot be discounted, he added.

According to Mr. Posner, such a program, “even a rudimentary one,” should raise alarm. It “might have been acceptable in the pre-9/11 world, but should not be tolerated by the United States government or any European government now,” he said.

The Saudi information center at the embassy in Washington did not return calls yesterday. In the past, officials have denied any Saudi interest in nuclear weapons.

The spotlight on the small quantities protocol loophole in the NPT rules comes on the heels of a failed attempt last week by signatory nations to coalesce around a revision of the 35-year-old treaty. According to the AP, the “small quantities protocol” is expected to be addressed in the mid-June meeting of the IAEA’s board of governors. According to a spokesman, Mark Gwozdecky, “possible remedies” would be proposed by the agency’s director, Mohamed ElBaradei.