Arab League meeting on nuclear weapons

The UAE is participating in the 38th meeting of the Arab League's Committee of Senior Arab Officials on Nuclear and other Weapons of Mass Destruction, which began today at the headquarters of the pan-Arab organisation.

The UAE was represented at the two-day meeting by Hani bin Huwaiden, who is in charge of the UAE permanent representative office at the Arab League.

Ambassador Abdul Hamid Hassan, Director of Arab Affairs at the Bahraini Foreign Ministry, chaired today's meeting, in which the Arab League's Assistant Secretary-General for National Security, said the Arab region is going through a critical stage posing massive threats to pan-Arab national security that include Israel's nuclear stockpile.

Items on the agenda of the meeting include preparations for the 60th ordinary session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), slated for next month in Vienna, as well as to highlight the most significant impact of the latest developments international disarmament on pan-Arab national security.

"Arab foreign ministers decided to include an item on the issue of Israel's nuclear capabilities in the agenda of the agency's upcoming meeting. The Arab ministers will not propose a pan-Arab bill on this issue this year and will instead present an Arab statement," he said.

Al Thawadi also revealed that Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Abul Gheit, set up an Arab elders committee for arms control and non-proliferation to participate in the meetings of the first preparatory committee of the 2020 NPT Review Conference, to be held from 2nd-12th May 2017.

The committee, he noted, will support the work of the Committee of Senior Arab Officials on Nuclear and other Weapons of Mass Destruction.

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