The Israeli media has launched a fierce campaign against Egypt after the International Atomic Energy Agency's report alleged it found enriched uranium in Inshas nuclear reactor. Eli Shaked, one-time Israeli ambassador in Cairo, said Israel will use its own ways to check the authenticity of such information. Yediot Aharonot re-opened the file of Mohamed Sayed Saber, who was accused of spying on Egypt's nuclear program for Israel.
The Israeli paper asked a number of Israeli officials about their opinion on the IAEA report. It asked them: Does the latest report confirm Egypt's entry into the nuclear armament race? Shaked alleged that the IAEA found the thread that could lead to new evidence in the future.
It is not secret that Egypt is interested in obtaining nuclear energy. We know that Egypt has a small nuclear reactor for scientific research under international supervision. Although President Mubarak hinted several months ago, during his visit to Russia, that Egypt may join the nuclear club, it was a single statement that has been repeated, Shaked added. Yediot Aharonot re-published a report on Saber, who spied for Israel. The paper quoted Shaked as saying: "Israel has to know if Egypt is developing its nuclear capabilities. We should investigate the matter and what is happening there. I am sure that Israel wants to know what happened, and I think we will do so through the indirect means. It is too early to talk about the impact of this development on the Egyptian-Israeli relations."
Maariv paper has quoted Ephraim Asculai, an Israeli expert in atomic energy, as saying: "Israel has confirmed information that Egypt tried to enrich uranium since 1986, but the new thing is that the IAEA found a quantity of highly enriched uranium."
Yet, we still have some time to know the chemical composition of the quantity and whether it is still in its metal conditions or was oxidized? What is the quality of enrichment? We have to know when the process started and many similar questions.
Asculai added: "The enriched uranium could be used in civilian purposes as well, but Israel has to demand an investigation on the matter and not to risk in such a sensitive issue."
For its part, Haaretz linked the IAEA report to Mubarak's statements during his recent visit to Russia last August in which he announced that Egypt was going to build civilian nuclear reactors to produce electricity. The paper claimed that Iran's progress in the nuclear field could push countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE and Turkey to join the nuclear armament race.
The Hebrew newspaper reported that all these countries talk about nuclear programs for civilian purposes such as electricity generation, heavy industries and scientific and medical research, but the danger lies in the fact that expertise and getting equipment and installations could shorten the distance of time required for shifting from the nuclear programs of peaceful purposes to the reactors of military nature.
