| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Jei" |
| Date: |
29 Dec 2003 08:55:35 PM |
| Object: |
Syria, Egypt: Israel Must Give Up Illegal Nukes |
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EGYPT_SYRIA_SUMMIT?SITE=NYBIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 24, 1:50 PM EST
Syria, Egypt: Israel Must Give Up Nukes
By SALAH NASRAWI
Associated Press Writer
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) -- Syria and Egypt dismissed Libyan leader
Moammar Gadhafi's call for Arab nations to follow his lead and get rid of
weapons of mass destruction, insisting Wednesday that Israel must first
eliminate its suspected nuclear arsenal.
Gadhafi's remark was seen as being aimed at Syria. U.S. officials have
repeatedly said that Syria has chemical weapons and is sponsoring terrorism.
Syria denies the charge.
Egypt has failed to ratify the chemical weapons convention and reportedly
used such weapons when it intervened in Yemen's civil war in the 1960s. It
is unclear whether Egypt has still has chemical weapons.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell ratcheted up the pressure Wednesday,
urging Syria to "get out of the hole" of being an international pariah.
"You need to start getting rid of weapons of mass destruction programs, stop
supporting terrorist activities which destabilize the region and come out
and start participating in the 21st century world that has benefits for
you - if you will get rid of this kind of behavior," Powell said during a
radio show.
Gadhafi also said that if other nations abandon weapons of mass destruction,
it would increase pressure on Israel to do likewise.
Neither Syrian President Bashar Assad nor Egyptian head of state Hosni
Mubarak spoke to reporters after their talks, which were arranged after
Ghadafi's speech. But Egypt's presidential adviser, Osama el-Baz, indicated
that Syria would not be moved by Gadhafi's words.
"Israel should not expect to be the last country (in the Middle East) to be
free of weapons of mass destruction," el-Baz told reporters.
Israel has never denied nor confirmed having nuclear bombs, but it is widely
believed to have them. Those suspicions were echoed again this month by the
head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
A French foreign ministry official on Tuesday raised the possibility that
France, Germany and Britain could play a role in talks with Syria. The three
countries recently convinced Iran to be more open about its nuclear program
and allow greater U.N. inspections.
"I can tell you that we are conducting three-way discussions about questions
regarding the region," said Cecile Pozzo di Borgo, a deputy spokesman for
the French foreign ministry during a briefing with reporters.
She wouldn't confirm a report in the British newspaper, The Guardian, that
the European countries were trying to persuade Syria to open up for
inspections and sign an agreement regarding its chemical weapons.
In a statement at the end of the summit, Assad and Mubarak stressed "current
developments in the Middle East demonstrate the need to declare the Middle
East a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction - including all states
and Israel."
In 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician at Israel's Dimona nuclear
plant, gave pictures of his workplace to The Times of London. Based on the
photographs, scientists at the time said Israel had the sixth-largest
stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. Vanunu is serving an 18-year term
for treason and espionage.
Gadhafi said on CNN that if other nations were to follow the example of
Libya, which announced its abandonment of weapons of mass destruction last
week: "This would tighten the noose around the Israelis so that they would
expose their programs and their weapons of mass destruction."
Gadhafi did not name any other nation in the interview.
Assad said he would like to renew peace talks with Israel in a Dec. 1
interview with the New York Times. It was his first overture to Israel since
he took office in July 2000. But he said the talks should resume from the
point where they left off earlier that year.
Last week Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the Syrian offer
should be taken seriously. But, he said, "Syria must come to the negotiating
table without preconditions and with no active involvement in terrorism."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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| User: "InsuranceBroker" |
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| Title: Re: Syria, Egypt: Israel Must Give Up Illegal Nukes |
29 Dec 2003 09:59:14 PM |
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Subject: Syria, Egypt: Israel Must Give Up Illegal Nukes
From: Jei
Date: 12/29/2003 9:55 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <Pine.LNX.4.58.0312300454430.29446@horus.hut.fi>
"Israel should not expect to be the last country (in the Middle East) to be
free of weapons of mass destruction," el-Baz told reporters.
Israel has never denied nor confirmed having nuclear bombs, but it is widely
believed to have them.
Of course they have them. They stole them from the United States and Russia
who employed jewish engineers.
A French foreign ministry official on Tuesday raised the possibility that
France, Germany and Britain could play a role in talks with Syria. The three
countries recently convinced Iran to be more open about its nuclear program
and allow greater U.N. inspections
Isreal should disarm and give up nukes.
Doing Insurance business in the Garden State
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