- (Reuters) - Israel should start talking seriously about
ridding the Middle East of nuclear weapons, whether it admits to having
them or not, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said.
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- Speaking to reporters on an official visit to the Russian
capital, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic
Energy Agency, said this would be a main topic of his visit to Israel in
early July.
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- "We need...to rid the Middle East of all weapons
of mass destruction," he said.
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- "Israel agrees with that, but they say it has to
be...after peace agreements," Mr ElBaradei said.
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- "My proposal is maybe we need to start to have a
parallel dialogue on security at the same time when we're working on the
peace process."
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- He said that a dialogue would help reduce widespread
frustration in the Middle East "about what is seen to be a security
imbalance".
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- He said talks on nuclear disarmament could stimulate
peace efforts by building confidence in the region.
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- Asked if he thought the Israelis would be open to such
an idea, he said: "I don't know, that's the purpose of my visit."
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- Mr ElBaradei said he would not be lecturing the Israelis
on whether or not they should acknowledge having atom bombs.
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- Under a policy of so-called "strategic ambiguity",
Israel neither admits nor denies having nuclear weapons but is widely believed
to have from 100 to 200 nuclear weapons.
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- Mr ElBaradei said it was unsustainable that some countries
had nuclear weapons and others did not.
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- "As long as you continue to have countries dangling
a cigarette from their mouth, you cannot tell everybody not to smoke with
a high degree of credibility," Mr ElBaradei said.
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- Israel and the United States both accuse Iran of pursuing
nuclear weapons, a charge that Tehran vehemently denies.
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- While Iraq and Libya are known to have unsuccessfully
pursued atomic weapons, Israel is believed to be the only country in the
region with the bomb.
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- Like India and Pakistan, which have atomic weapons, Israel
has never signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
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- c. 2004 Reuters. All Rights Reserved
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