LONDON – The International Atomic Energy Agency has been struggling
with arranging a meeting on a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.
IAEA sources said director-general Mohammed El Baradei has been unable to
obtain agreement for an agenda for such a meeting. The sources said Egypt
has sought to place Israel's purported nuclear weapons arsenal as a main
item on the agenda, Middle East Newsline reported.
"The issue is stuck," an IAEA source said.
The agency sought such a meeting ahead of the parley to review the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in May 2005. Egypt wants to link the NPT
review with a meeting that would focus on eliminating nuclear weapons from
the Middle East.
IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky confirmed that the agency has not been able
to set a date or agenda for a Middle East forum. He said the agency
continued to negotiate with several Middle East states.
Gwozdecky cited difficulties on reaching agreement of both technical and
legal issues as well as a date of the proposed meeting. He did not
elaborate.
But agency sources said the source of the dispute was between Egypt and
Israel. Israel has sought to widen any discussion of a nuclear-free Middle
East to include Iran.
In contrast, the sources said, Egypt wanted to limit the agenda to
pressure Israel to sign the NPT. Iran has been a signator to the treaty.