Arabs Want EU Support on “Israel” Nuclear Secrecy Resolution

Source: almanar.com.lb, 14-08-2009

Arab League chief Amr Moussa urged EU president Sweden to support a resolution slamming ""Israel"'s" nuclear secrecy.
Arab states have been lobbying the European Union to support their drive to force "Israel" to open up its secretive nuclear program to international perusal, following the example of other nations.

According to the Associated Press, the Arab initiative is reflected in documents. One is a letter to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt from Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the 22-nation League of Arab States. He urges Bildt to back an Arab resolution critical of ""Israel"'s" nuclear secrecy.
The resolution is to be submitted for a vote at next month's 150-nation general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Sweden currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

Diplomats from EU member countries and from other nations accredited to the IAEA said Thursday that the same letter was sent to the other 26 EU member countries.

While "Israel" has never confirmed its status, it is considered to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East with more than 200 nuclear warheads. Arab states regularly push at the annual IAEA conference for the zionist state to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and open its facilities for IAEA perusal.

But the efforts are regularly defeated, and the league's lobbying efforts reflected Arab determination to push the measure through come September.

The votes of the 27 members of the EU are important for both opponents and proponents of censuring "Israel" at the conference. The motion critical of "Israel" was only narrowly defeated last year. That indicated growing support for the Arab initiative, particularly among developing countries.

General conference resolutions sponsored by the Arab League express concern about "Israeli" nuclear capabilities and ask the IAEA to help implement the nonproliferation treaty regime on "Israel".