Israel support seen on arms goal

JERUSALEM -- The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency said he won an endorsement yesterday from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel to work for a nuclear-free Middle East. But the pledge seemed vague and weakened by Israel's continued refusal to confirm its atomic capacities.

Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said he was pleased by Sharon's response to the goal of a region free of nuclear arms, but emphasized that Sharon was talking about a ''vision" and not a concrete plan.

''The prime minister affirmed to me that Israeli policy continues to be that in the context of peace in the Middle East, Israel will be looking forward to the establishment of a nuclear-weapons free zone in the Middle East," ElBaradei said after a meeting with Sharon. ''I hope we can translate these visions into concrete steps."

Israeli officials emphasized that arms-control talks are far off, linking them to progress on the so-called road map, an internationally-backed peace plan that has been stalled since its inception a year ago.

But ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, said he was pleased by Sharon's comments.

''That's the first time I hear that from the prime minister of Israel," he said. ''It's not a new policy, but affirming that policy at the level of prime minister I thought to be quite a welcome development."

ElBaradei's three-day visit to Israel was overshadowed by the country's longstanding taboo on discussing its nuclear capabilities. Israel is thought to be the only country in the Middle East that has nuclear missiles ready to be launched.

In the face of overwhelming evidence, ElBaradei would have welcomed at least tacit acknowledgment that Israel has such arms or the means to make them, as a step toward his quest of restarting talks on ridding the region of nuclear weapons.

But Israel did not budge from its stance of neither confirming nor denying it has nuclear arms. It says the policy is the best way to keep Islamic rivals from attacking it while denying them the rationale for also seeking such weapons. ''Israel has no reason to change its policy, which has served it well," said a senior Israeli official, who requested anonymity.

In an interview published yesterday in the Haaretz newspaper, ElBaradei said the growing threat of nuclear proliferation has put a new premium on regional security arrangements.

During his visit, he said Israel repeatedly raised concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Officials who attended an airport meeting between ElBaradei and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom of Israel before ElBaradei's return to Vienna said Shalom suggested that Tehran be hauled before the UN Security Council for what he said was an attempt to make nuclear arms in violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty.