JEDDAH, 18 June 2005 — Saudi Arabia signed the Small Quantities Protocol (SQP) of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on Thursday. Omar Kurdi, Saudi ambassador to Vienna, and Mohamed Al-Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), inked the protocol that exempts the Kingdom from nuclear inspections.
Kurdi said the pact was signed at Riyadh’s initiative and the Kingdom would inform the global energy watchdog its use of nuclear energy for industrial and research purposes. The Foreign Ministry has earlier stated that Saudi Arabia does not have nuclear reactors and any banned fissionable material.
“During the board meeting, no IAEA governor had demanded the Kingdom to allow greater inspections by the agency as the board knows that the nuclear material used for industrial and scientific research purposes will be small in quantity,” Al-Hayat Arabic daily quoted Kurdi as saying.
Dr. Saleh Al-Athel, president of King Abdul Aziz City of Science and Technology, said the signing of the protocol reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to international charters on peaceful use of nuclear energy.
A Foreign Ministry official said Saudi Arabia signed the NPT protocol as part of its efforts to save the world from the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction and achieve the goal of peaceful coexistence of nations.
