Arab leaders call for Middle East free of nuclear weapons

Mar 28, 2010, 13:43 GMT

Sirte, Libya - Arab leaders on Sunday called for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons during a closed-door session at the Arab League summit in Libya, diplomats at the meeting said.

Many Arab countries view Israel and Iran's nuclear programmes with alarm, and have repeatedly called for an agreement to ban nuclear weapons from the region.

In their closing statements, leaders stressed that the development of nuclear weapons threatened peace and security, diplomats who attended the closed-door session told the German Press Agency dpa.

They called for a review of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in order to create a definitive plan for eliminating nuclear weapons development.

They further called upon the UN to hold a conference to establish the Middle East as a nuclear-weapons-free region. However, it is unclear how much weight their calls will carry with Iran or Israel, neither of which is a member in the Arab League.

Some delegations initially called for allowing a few Arab countries to possess nuclear weapons if Israel does not join the NPT within a certain period of time, but that proposal was left out of closing remarks.

One hundred eighty-nine countries, including all Arab states, are party to the NPT. Only Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea are not.

Arab leaders also called on the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, to terminate its technical assistance programmes in Israel if the country does not join the NPT and allow inspections to begin.

Leaders and representatives of the 22 members of the Arab League began their two-day summit in Sirte on Saturday.