International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei arrived in Amman Saturday on a visit to Jordan, part of his Mideast tour on countries aiming to obtain nuclear energy.

During three-day stay in Jordan, the third leg of the regional tour that has already taken him to Saudi Arabia and Oman, ElBaradei will hold talks with King Abdullah II on Amman's nuclear program.

The king may announce the kingdom's intention and steps to be a member of the so-called "Mideast nuclear-power club", local media reported.

ElBaradei will also visit an IAEA-funded international research facility south of Amman.
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Jordanian Energy Minister Khaled Sharida said earlier this month that the kingdom intended to operate its first reactor for the purpose of energy production in 2015.

The purpose of the intention is "to ensure a better future and achieve continuous development" for the country, which lies in a desert region and suffers from a severe energy shortage, he added.

Jordan is not the only country in the Middle East region that has the intention to enter the nuclear club in the unstable zone, dominated by Iran and Israel.

Egypt has repeatedly voiced its intention to renew a nuclear project halted about two decades ago.

During their last summit meeting, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), grouping Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, also outlined its intention to set up a common program to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In the 19th summit meeting in Riyadh in late March, Arab leaders issued two resolutions on expanding use of peaceful nuclear technology in the various domains and establishing joint Arab ventures in various scores, particularly in the energy and water desalination spheres.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa probed Thursday with director general of the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) Mahmoud Nasreddin steps needed to put into effect the resolutions of the Riyadh summit.

Although the Arab leaders again and again stated that they try to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and "the peaceful use of nuclear energy is the right of every country", the international community has been worrying about it with questions.

The world has asked: What is behind the "Mideast nuclear-power club"? Is it simply an energy phobia that is driving nations towards nuclearization, or is it a reaction to Israel's military nuclear capability and a reaction to the Iranian nuclear program?

Egyptian Foreign Minister Abul-Gheit has stressed that the challenge facing the Arab countries is how to deal with the Israeli nuclear file and avoid the emergence of new nuclear powers in the region.

Barbara Thomas Judge, chairman of UK's Atomic Energy Authority, held that the Mideast region really need nuclear power to meet its ever-increasing energy demands.

"Although the Middle East region still has a wealth of untapped oil reserves, the supplies are diminishing fast. Meanwhile, atomic energy is a more reliable solution than other alternative sources," she said.

However, the scholars assume that the new wave of nuclear development is also resulted from a "domino effect", as "states feel the need to remain competitive by keeping up with nuclear technology."

In February, the GCC and the IAEA agreed to cooperate on a feasibility study on the region's plans for a nuclear energy program.

IAEA chief ElBaradei defended the regional countries' right to nuclear energy and dismissed doubts raised by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in December on the motives for the nuclear plan in a region rich in oil and gas.

After a meeting with GCC chief Abdulrahman al-Attiyah in Riyadh on Thursday, ElBaradei told a press conference that "it is a natural right for the GCC countries to possess nuclear energy in order to use it for peaceful purposes."

"Nothing prevented ... the United States ... or the (former) Soviet Union ... from developing nuclear energy while they were producing large quantities of oil," he said, stressing that" preparation in the long-term for the use of nuclear energy in desalination and power generation may not happen tomorrow but it may happen be within 10 years or 15 years."

Jalil Roshandel, the associate professor and director of the Security Studies Program at the Political Science Department of East Carolina University, said in his articles that the Mideast region's nuclear programs are partly fuelled by concerns about future energy supplies.

"Nuclear technology acquisition is the hottest topic among Middle East nations today, even among those that had previously abandoned their plans," he noted.

Roshandel took Egypt and Iran for instance, saying the two "are vocal in their wish for a nuclear-free Middle East, but neither, apparently, wants to take any step to forego its nuclear program."

"Intentions across the region are, for the moment, peaceful. But the decision to go nuclear could prove disastrous if countries start to consider military options," the professor warned.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2007)