Egypt Keeping its Nuclear Options Open?
By Montag | Related entries in The WorldEgypt won’t sign onto the nuclear test ban treaty unless Israel first signs onto the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
The refusal by Israel, which is believed to possess hundreds of nuclear warheads, to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty has also made the Middle East more insecure, Ahmed Aboul Gheit was quoted by Egypt’s semiofficial Middle East News Agency as saying.
What did Ahmed Aboul Gheit say with regard to the treaty exactly?
“Egypt’s ratification of the (test ban) treaty is linked to the extent of developments that may occur in regional and international circumstances, including the possibility that Israel may join the NPT[.]“
Any chance at all of this happening? Would Israel’s pledging to eventually disarm create any traction at all in the peace process or on the nonproliferation front?
Wait a minute, is this really about weapons proliferation in the case of Egypt?
Egypt runs small-scale nuclear programs for medical and research purposes and has previously denied that it is trying to develop a nuclear weapons program.
Is Egypt merely trying to flex some political muscle here, or are they also trying to keep their nuclear options open?
Associated Press: Egypt turns down nuclear treaty request
This entry was posted on Monday, August 29th, 2005 and is filed under The World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:04 pm
I doubt Egypt seriously intends to do anything seriously nuclear, it’s just rhetoric and positioning. After been thrashed by Israel the last time around they want show they still mean something in the area.