VIENNA, Sept 19: The Arab League withdrew a draft resolution on Friday that called on Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and allow the UN to inspect its nuclear programme, but vowed to try again next year.

Israel has not signed the NPT and has never officially admitted to having nuclear weapons. However, non-proliferation experts estimate that Israel has from 100 to 200 nuclear bombs.

On Wednesday, 15 members of the Arab League submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) general conference of the 137 member states the draft resolution which said Israel was the only nuclear power in the Middle East and should disarm.

Although the Arab states failed for the 12th year in a row to gather enough support to pass the resolution, a diplomat said that it would be unfair to call the withdrawal a failure.

“They (the Arab states) achieved their objective by reminding countries that this is an issue that shouldn’t be allowed to fade into obscurity,” he said.

The last time the Arab states succeeded in getting such a resolution adopted by the IAEA general conference was in 1991. Since 1987, the IAEA conference and UN General Assembly have passed 13 such resolutions. Israel has ignored them all.

Japan’s ambassador to the IAEA, who presided over the conference, said Israel’s nuclear programme would be on the agenda of the IAEA’s general conference next year.

US Ambassador Kenneth Brill complained that the Arab league resolution belonged at the UN General Assembly, not at the IAEA.—Reuters