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Saturday, Jul 10, 2004

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International

Sharon for nuclear-free West Asia

By Chris McGreal

JERUSALEM, JULY 9. Israel and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog reached a public understanding on Thursday with Ariel Sharon committing himself to the vision of a West Asia free of nuclear weapons.

Mohammed ElBaradei, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, described the development as a ``glimmer of hope'' for the region, but left aside the sensitive question of Israel's own atomic weapons.

``The Prime Minister affirmed to me that Israeli policy continues to be that, in the context of peace in the Middle East (West Asia), Israel will be looking favourably to the establishment of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East (West Asia),'' said Mr. ElBaradei. ``It is not a new policy, but affirming that policy at the level of Prime Minister I thought to be quite a welcome development.''

But peace appeared no closer on Thursday as two senior Israeli army commanders were wounded amid further violence in the Gaza Strip that left at least nine Palestinians dead, one of them a woman.

Mr. Sharon's plans to withdraw settlements from Gaza has left his Government vulnerable, and on Thursday he indicated that he was exploring bringing the Opposition centre-left Labour party into a broader coalition.

``I set a meeting for Sunday with (the Labour leader) Shimon Peres to discuss the possibility of broadening the coalition.'' —

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