VIENNA, June 4 Arab nations are expected to use a UN atomic watchdog meeting next week to draw attention to Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity and urge it to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The discussion comes after a month-long UN conference in New York to review the NPT which put pressure on Israel and at a time of wider international scrutiny of the Jewish state after its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Although no conclusion is expected, it will be the first time the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors has discussed the topic since 1991. Diplomats say it may be used to divert focus from perennial topics like Iran and Syria.

On the agenda at the request of Arab nations, the discussion on “Israeli nuclear capabilities” could be scrapped if enough of the IAEA's 35 governing member states oppose it but diplomats say this is unlikely.

Arab nations want IAEA chief Yukiya Amano to present countries' views on how to implement an IAEA resolution which says Israel should put all its atomic sites under inspection and urges it to join the NPT.—Reuters