JEDDAH, 28 May 2004 — Saudi Arabia was among several Arab countries that yesterday renewed calls to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone. They also want enforcement of United Nations resolutions calling on Israel to join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Speaking on behalf of the Arab group at an international disarmament conference in Geneva, Abdul Wahab Attar, the Kingdom’s permanent ambassador to the UN’s Geneva office, said Arab countries had over the past three decades been pursuing an “unambiguous policy” on disarmament and the spread of nuclear weapons and endorsed all international conventions in this regard.
“Arab countries have launched numerous initiatives to free the Middle East from all weapons of mass destruction, notably nuclear weapons,” he said. The countries “moved within the Arab League to establish a governmental committee of experts to work out a draft treaty to make the Middle East WMD free.”
The region’s situation made it imperative on the international community to adopt “practical alternatives to free the region of such weapons,” he said. Attar called on the international community to force Israel to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, open all its nuclear facilities to inspection and renounce nuclear weapons.
He said Arab countries saw in the non-proliferation treaty one of the most important treaties ever agreed on by the world. The large number of countries joining the treaty is proof that the world is convinced of its importance in eliminating the threat of nuclear war, he added.
Attar stressed the security and stability in the Middle East was the responsibility of the entire international community because its stability was vital to world security and peace.
