Riyadh: Pressure Israel to sign NPT

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:29:14

Saudi Arabia has called for international pressure to compel Israel to accept the international monitoring over its nuclear activities.

"The Issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is still a serious threat to peace and security in the world," IRNA quoted Saudi Arabia's deputy Foreign Minister Prince Turki Bin-Muhammad on Saturday.

WMDs are dangerous whether they are used in wars or trigger arms race among countries, the Saudi official said in resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt.

He described Israel as the only owner of the nuclear weapons in the Middle East, saying the regime is not subject to international monitoring.

He went on to say that to resolve this problem we have to get rid of double-standard-policies.

Washington is widely accused of practicing double standards over proliferation of WMDs when it comes to its allies particularly Tel Aviv.

"The international community must pressure Israel to open its nuclear facilities to UN inspectors and sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)," Bin-Muhammad concluded.