Egypt surprised by claims of possession of WMDs

Egypt's Ambassador Mohamed Bassioni, head of the Shura Council's Arab Affairs and National Security Committee and Egypt's former Ambassador to Israeli, expressed astonishment over rumors published by some European and Israeli newspapers on Egypt's possession of weapons of mass destruction.

During a meeting in Helwan, a Cairo suburb, yesterday Bassioni said that President Hosni Mubarak was the first to declare an initiative on rendering the Middle East free of weapon of mass destruction.

The former diplomat said that Egypt was first country in the region to sign the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty.

He said that the rumours appeared at this time for many reasons the foremost among which was to block the renewal of a new term for Mohamd El-Baradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Bassioni affirmed that the nuclear tests Egypt conducted were only for peaceful purposes.