Kuwait said Friday Israel was the only obstacle establishing a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and nuclear weapons because it failed to join Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“Israel’s membership in NPT is key to realize universality of treaty, specially that it is the only non- member party in the Middle East, and the obstacle facing establishment of an area free of nuclear weapons and WMD,” Abdulaziz Al-Jarallah, Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for International Organizations, said.
He was speaking before the third Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference at the UN.He said membership of non-nuclear countries in NPT reflected their conviction in danger of nuclear weapons.
NPT should be universal, he said, thus all countries which did not join it should do so.He said the 2010 NPT Review Conference agreed to hold a conference to establish a nuclear- free Middle East in 2012, but lack of “political will and seriousness by the parties assigned to organize the conference as well as Israel, contributed to failure of conference and resulted in its postponement indefinitely.”
Al-Jarallah said clearing Middle East from WMD and nuclear weapons, as well as placing nuclear facilities under supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) aimed at realizing security and safety for the region.
He called on countries who were preparing for the 2012 conference to organize the conference before the 2020 Review. He said the UN General Assembly approved a resolution by the Arab Group to hold the conference before end of this year.
