by Gao Lu

    JERUSALEM, July 8 (Xinhuanet) -- In his second visit to Israel, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Mohammed ElBaradei hopes Israel to open the door of its mysterious nuclear program, but Israel responds with a simple answer: "No."

    Advancing the proposal for a start of talks about creating a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East was the focus of ElBaradei's visit.

    Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon said during a meeting with ElBaradei on Thursday that Israel would look favorably into turning the region into a nuclear-free zone in the context of true Middle East peace.

    ElBaradei said that in their meeting, Sharon pointed out that arms-control issues are part of the second stage in the US-backed road map peace plan. "This is a good vision, and I hope we can turn it into concrete steps," ElBaradei said.

    The IAEA head, speaking at a lecture at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that "This is the first time I heard this statement from an Israeli prime minister, and I find it a positive development."

    Israel has agreed in principle to start noncommittal talks in the form of "academic seminars," but Israel's overall policy is that nuclear disarmament in the region should come at the end of a successful peace process that includes security arrangements covering biological and chemical weapons, as well.

    Arab countries want nuclear weapons to be one of the first issues on the table.

    A senior Israeli official of Israeli Atomic Energy Commission(IAEC) Thursday said in a news conference that ElBaradei's visit was a "routine" one, adding that there is no reason for Israel to change its nuclear policy.

    Asking that if Israel has nuclear weapons, the official only responded that the country "is committed not to introduce weapons of mass destruction to the region (the Middle East).

    Under its policy of "strategic ambiguity," Israel neither admits nor denies having nuclear arms. But international experts believe Israel has from 100 to 200 warheads based on estimates of the amount of plutonium its reactors have produced.

    Israel is the only Middle East country not to have signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This keeps it exempt from opening up its nuclear program to UN inspectors.

    ElBaradei said during his visit that he did not intend to push the Jewish state on the nuclear issue. "It's not a question of pressure. I have no power to pressure," he said.

    Gerald Steinberg, a top Israeli analyst from Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said that continued hostility to Israel in the Middle East was a reason for it not to give up any nuclear deterrent or sign the NPT now.

    "The threat to Israel has not diminished much in the past five decades and hatred of Israel in the Arab and Muslim worlds remains intense," said Steinberg.

    Analysts said the timing of the trip was significant.

    First of all, the Middle East peace process has stalled. Secondly, since the Saddam regime was toppled in Iraq and Libya and Iran have decided to cooperate with IAEA, there is stronger request among the Arab world for the IAEA to put much more pressure on Israel.

   "ElBaradei may feel it's necessary to take a more balanced position and to focus some negative attention on Israel for remaining outside the (Nuclear Non-Proliferation) Treaty and for not opening up its nuclear facilities to inspections," said Valerie Lincy, an analyst at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. Enditem