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VIENNA (AFP) - The IAEA called Friday on all Middle East states to sign the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), although a resolution targeting Israel's nuclear capacities was withdrawn at the last minute. At the 44th annual conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, there was consensus that Middle East states should "adhere to international non-proliferation regimes, including the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons." Israel has never signed the NPT, has never stated it holds nuclear arms and refuses to submit itself to IAEA inspections. The resolution urged the states of the region "to forthwith accept the application of full-scope Agency safeguards to all their nuclear activities ... as a step in enhancing peace and security in the context of a nuclear weapon-free zone." A resolution to be presented by 13 Arab states on "Israeli nuclear capabilities and threat" was withdrawn. It was replaced by an agreement that IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei would arrange a meeting of the states in the region to discuss the creation of a nuclear-free zone. Israel had warned the conference against accepting such a resolution, which has been put before the conference for the last two years. The head of Israel's delegation, Gideon Grank, warned that "acting on a draft resolution ... is bound to create a situation that will make it impossible for us to join any consensus resolution concerning the application of safeguards to the Middle East. "Israel is firmly committed to the establishment of a nuclear weapons free zone in the proper context and time" and "has never threatened any of its neighbors, not has it acted in defiance of international norms," he said. Israel estimates that Iran will have military nuclear capacity starting in 2005, and missiles capable of reaching Israel in 10 years' time. ElBaradei had already expressed his regrets on what he termed "little progress" made in the Middle East. |
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