Qatar stresses need to declare Middle East as nuclear weapons free zone

The State of Qatar expressed its support to the efforts aimed at enhancing the international peace and security in the context of truth and justice, stressing the urgent need to declare the Middle East as nuclear weapons free zone.

This came in a statement of the State of Qatar delivered on Thursday by the Deputy Chairman of the National Committee on Arms Embargo, HE Brigadier (Air) Hassan Saleh Al-Nisef, before the UN Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) about the item on making the Middle East a nuclear-weapon-free zone at UN Headquarters in New York.

The establishment of a zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East should be of interest to the international community and a big priority as the region has a strong impact on international peace and security, he said.

He warned that Israel holds nuclear weapons and the exemption of its nuclear program from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, creates an unstable state in the region dispelling any confidence-building measures meant to promote peace and security.

From this point of view, the Resolution on the Middle East was adopted by consensus at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference in 1995, which encouraged all Arab countries to join the treaty before the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

He called on the international community to intensify efforts to exert pressure on Israel to join the Treaty as it is the only country in the Middle East which remains outside accountability, he pointed out.

He stressed that it is necessary to approve a serious operational mechanism with a specific agenda and clear obligations, urging the United Nations, the nuclear States and the international community to fulfill their duties on such a vital issue for the maintenance of international peace and security.

The State of Qatar supports what came in the Arab document in this regard, he said.

The time has come for the international community, the United Nations and the countries sponsoring the 1995 Resolution to comply their duty towards the implementation of the decisions of the 2010 Conference and other relevant resolutions.