Israel may join mideast nuclear disarmament conference

Israel holds secret talks on involvement in Mideast nuclear disarmament conference which is scheduled to be held in Finland's capital, Helsinki, in December, the Israeli daily (Haaretz) reported Wednesday. According to the paper, Finland's Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs visited Jerusalem secretly last week for talks with Israeli counterparts about Israel's involvement in a conference to ban nuclear arms from the Middle East. Israel voiced opposition to such a conference two years ago. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty conference is scheduled to be held in Helsinki in December but could be deferred until 2013. The main item on the agenda is likely to be attempts made by Arab states and Iran to curb Israel's nuclear capability.