Egypt supports Int'l Conference to eliminate Nuclear threats

Under the Chairmanship of Iranian Assistant Foreign Affairs, Minister Gawad Zarief, meetings were held in the UN HeadQuarters in New York.

Egyptian permanent delegate to UN, Ahmed Abul Gheit expressed Egyptian stance to the two main issues of the meeting, i.e. means of nuclear weapons elimination and building up mutual confidence in relation to traditional weapons.

Abul Gheit alluded to nuclear disarmament treaty's review that demanded Israel to join the NDT and subject its nuclear establishments to international inspection.

Egypt supports UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's call to hold an international conference to examine ways of eliminating nuclear dangers as set forth in his report to the Millennium Summit later this year.

Ambassador Ahmed Abul Gheit, in a statement to the UN Disarmament Committee Monday night, said Egypt hopes this conference is held in the near future.

"A world free of nuclear weapons must begin with serious regional efforts that aim, collectively, at eliminating nuclear weapons and the world of its dangers," he said.

"Countries in the Middle East have committed themselves to the realization of this goal, except one country, namely Israel," he added.

The Egyptian initiative of a Middle East free of mass destructive weapons reflects Egyptian awareness of the necessity to eliminate nuclear weapons.