Morocco calls for a nuclear-arms-free zone in mideast

Morocco has renewed its call on nuclear powers, especially the signatories of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of the Nuclear Weapons (NPT), for the creation of a nuclear-arms-free zone in the Middle East.

The call was made in a report to the United Nations Committee preparing for a 2005 conference of the parties to NPT, which is currently meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

"The creation of such a zone requires that Israel, sole state in the region that has not yet joined the NPT, adhere to the convention and submit its nuclear installations to the system of the International Atomic Energy, said Morocco.

Morocco adhered to the NPT in 1970, although it does not have nuclear capacities.

"Morocco was one of the first countries to call for the creation of a nuclear-arms-free zone in the Middle East, because it believes that such a zone is not only a necessary to avoid proliferation and insecurity in this region but is also an international objective and a factor for the consolidation of peace and security in the world," the report said.

Morocco is also signatory of the Pelindaba Treaty on a nuclear-arms-free zone in Africa.