During last week's vote at the IAEA Cairo reasserted its determination to see the Middle East free from nuclear weapons while upholding the rights of member states to pursue peaceful nuclear policies, reports Doaa El-Bey Egypt abstained in this week's vote on the resolution on the Iranian nuclear file issued by International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors, voted against a draft resolution allowing Russia to establish a reserve of low enriched uranium to provide IAEA member states with nuclear fuel and argued that the report of the secretariat of the IAEA on the safeguards agreement regarding the implementation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in Syria addressed limited objective goals. The Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Egypt had abstained in the Iranian nuclear vote because the resolution was unbalanced, arguing that it had ignored regional dimensions and should have included a statement on the importance of dealing with Israel's nuclear capability and making the Middle East a region free of nuclear weapons. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said the resolution was rushed and had been presented to member states without enough time for discussion. The timing was inappropriate, and the resolution would do nothing to build the confidence necessary to settle the crisis surrounding the Iranian nuclear file. Egypt, he continued, had opted to abstain so as to avoid suggestions that Cairo supported the way Tehran is dealing with the issue. He expressed dismay that Iran had failed to declare the existence of a nuclear facility near the town of Qom, in violation of its obligations towards the IAEA and despite Tehran's assurances to the agency that it had nothing to hide, arguing that the existence of secret nuclear facilities outside IAEA safeguards system, wherever they are located, threatened the security not just of Egypt but the entire Middle East. The remark was clearly directed at Israel, which repeatedly declines to discuss its nuclear weapons capabilities. As part of its ongoing attempts to strike a balance between freeing the Middle East from nuclear weapons -- an initiative launched by President Mubarak -- and the legal right of all NPT member countries -- including Iran -- to benefit from the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Egypt on Saturday voted against a draft resolution allowing Russia to set up a reserve of low enriched uranium to supply IAEA member states with nuclear fuel. The no vote, said Cairo, was directed primarily at attempts by any state to monopolise the production of nuclear fuel. The resolution, pointed out the Foreign Ministry's spokesman, did not state as a condition that countries benefiting from the Russian reserve of low enriched uranium should be members of the NPT, thus contradicting the spirit of the treaty. He emphasised that Egypt will continue to defend the right of all NPT members to benefit from nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and would be reiterating its position at the 2010 NPT Review Conference and during preliminary meetings. On Syria, while praising ongoing contacts between the IAEA and Damascus, it accused the IAEA's Board of Governors, in its discussion of the secretariat report on the implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in Syria, as pursuing unjustifiably limited goals. Egypt, said the spokesman, recognises the importance of keeping cooperation between the two parties within the framework of their rights and commitments to implement the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, but regrets that a chance was missed to reassert the importance of all nuclear facilities in the Middle East -- including Israel's -- falling under the comprehensive IAEA safeguards system. Egypt is a signatory to the Nuclear NPT, which allows countries to build nuclear power stations under international supervision. It has long pressed for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons. Last year Cairo announced plans to build a nuclear power station to meet the increasing demand for electricity, which has been growing at an average rate of seven per cent a year. The planned generator will be constructed at Al-Dabaa, on the Mediterranean coast, and is expected to be online within ten years.
