Chief nuclear watchdog to visit Israel in July

8.00am

JERUSALEM - UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who has called for Israel to dismantle a nuclear arsenal it has never admitted possessing, is expected to visit the country this summer.

"ElBaradei has made at least four visits to Israel. This is a matter of routine, and our working relationship with him is good," Gideon Shavit, spokesman for Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, said on Wednesday.

"Our membership in the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) entails hosting such visits on a regular basis. It is likely that ElBaradei will meet with high-profile government officials while here."

Israeli diplomatic sources said ElBaradei was tentatively scheduled to arrive on July 8 for a two-day visit. The IAEA confirmed the visit, but said the dates had yet to be finalised.

"Israel is a member state of the IAEA and it is six years since (ElBaradei) was last there," agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. ElBaradei, an Egyptian lawyer, has headed the agency since 1997, when he replaced Sweden's Hans Blix.

"Naturally, he would intend to use such a trip to consult on his mandate from the (IAEA) General Conference to promote non-proliferation and a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East, as well as to discuss bilateral cooperation in nuclear sciences and applications," Fleming said.

Analysts estimate Israel has an arsenal of hundreds of nuclear weapons. Keen to ward off regional foes while avoiding arms races, it neither confirms nor denies pursuing weapons of mass destruction, under a policy of "strategic ambiguity".

Israel was first exposed as a nuclear power in 1986 when former atomic technician Mordechai Vanunu, who worked at the Dimona reactor, gave an interview to a British newspaper.

Vanunu, 49, was released from jail in Israel last week after serving an 18-year term for treason. He vowed to continue campaigning for international inspections of Dimona.

"Our policy (on inspection of military facilities) remains unchanged. I do not anticipate that ElBaradei will be taken to Dimona on this visit," Shavit said.

After meeting Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom last November, ElBaradei hinted Israel should sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and thereby open up its atomic sites to international inspections.

"In my view every country in the Middle East, including Israel, will benefit from establishing a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East as part and parcel of a comprehensive peace in the region," ElBaradei said then.

In a December interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, ElBaradei said he had made several official visits to Israel and visited the country's atomic installations -- except for Dimona.

The UN General Assembly and IAEA General Conference have adopted 13 resolutions since 1987 appealing to Israel to sign the NPT. Like India and Pakistan, both openly nuclear-armed, the Jewish state has refused to do so.

- REUTERS