CAIRO, March 24: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called on Wednesday for the elimination of mass destruction weapons in the Middle East as part of the peace process and urged the US-led authority in Iraq to allow his organization to return to the country.

"Peace will never be established and will never be permanent if it is not accompanied by the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction - chemical, biological and nuclear - in the region and the reduction of traditional arms," IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told a press conference here.

He called for a "strategic dialogue in the framework of the peace process to create a security platform, parallel to the peace process", stressing that there would be "no peace without security and vice versa".

Mr ElBaradei said that "although the international community is asking Israel to adhere to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, it would be more realistic to deal with this question in the context of the peace process".

Mr ElBaradei likewise urged the Coalition Provisional Authority to authorize the IAEA to return to Iraq to wrap up final details in the search for weapons of mass destruction.

"The book on Iraq has not been closed for the IAEA," he said. "I continue to call for the return of the IAEA to Iraq so that it can finish verifying that Iraq is free of all weapons of mass destruction." He recalled that the IAEA remains mandated by the UN Security Council to conclude its mission. -AFP