Letter in The Age 01/10/09

CONGRATULATIONS to Amin Saikal (Comment, 30/9) for his thoughtful and courageous entry to the labyrinth of Middle East nuclear tensions. His thread of an exit strategy has many complicated turns but offers a credible hope that demands serious examination. Saikal canvasses diplomatic and political initiatives that might bring about a ''region-wide regime of arms control'', none so fanciful or utopian as to warrant the scorn or silence they are all too likely to meet in Australia.