Egypt calls on Israel to join NPT

Egypt handed a report on the steps it has taken to render the Middle East region free of nuclear weapons, said ambassador Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Egypt's Permanent Envoy to the UN.

"This falls within arrangements for the first preparatory meeting of the conference on reviewing the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for the year 2005, to be held in New York on April 8," he added.

In statements Thursday, Abul-Gheit said that the issue of establishing a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle east takes top priority in the Egyptian policy, particularly with the accession of all countries of the region to NPT excerpt Israel, whose nuclear facilities were not subject to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

The Egyptian report included efforts exerted by Egypt to enhance the steps towards setting up a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East, said Abul-Gheit, noting Egypt will follow up President Hosni Mubarak's two initiatives in this respect.