Arab states complain at nuclear review measures

Cairo, Mar 5: Arab foreign ministers complained today that three nuclear powers the United States, Britain and Russia had tried to change the procedures for reviewing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2010.

A letter distributed by British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on behalf of the three NPT depository governments departs from previous practice by dropping any reference to a 1995 resolution advocating a nuclear-free West Asia, according to an Egyptian government statement.

''The explanatory paragraph was omitted which was put in previous letters and which indicated the need for the preparatory committee to deal with the West Asia resolution passed by the 1995 conference,'' the statement said.

The West Asia resolution called on all states in the West Asia to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty and open their nuclear facilities to international inspection.

The main target of the resolution was Israel, which has never signed the treaty, rejects inspections and is widely believed to have more than 200 nuclear warheads.

Arab governments are suspicious that the nuclear powers wanted to discourage the 2010 conference from paying attention to Israel's nuclear activities, an Arab diplomat said.

The United States has discouraged debate on Israel's nuclear programme while mobilising international opposition to Iran's programme, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes.

Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo today adopted an Egyptian proposal to write to Beckett asking her to circulate a corrected version of the procedures, reinstating the customary references to the Middle East resolution.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told a news conference at the end of the meeting: ''We do not share the view that the question that threatens the security of the region lies in Iran, or only with Iran.''

Reuters

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