BAHRAIN ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ON BEHALFOF ARAB GROUP ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

Bahrain, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, today told the Conference on Disarmament that nuclear weapon States should respect their commitments made under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its Review Conference and stressed the importance of having Israel accede to the treaty and turning the Middle East into a nuclear weapon free zone.


Bahrain said the Arab Group was disappointed at the inability of the Conference on Disarmament to respond to the appeals of the 2005 NPT Review Conference and establish a subsidiary body to deal with nuclear disarmament and start negotiations on a treaty to prohibit the production of fissile materials, including stockpiles. The Conference on Disarmament should work in order to help bring about an international legal system which secured security and peace in the world.


At the beginning of the meeting, the Conference approved a request from Bahrain to become an observer to the work of the 2006 session of the Conference.


The next plenary of the Conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 14 September and the meeting will be devoted to the adoption of the annual report of the Conference to the General Assembly.

Statement


ABDULLAH ABDEL-LATIF ABDULLAH (Bahrain), speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said the Arab Group affirmed its close attachment to UN General Assembly resolutions, including resolution 60/59 of 8 December 2005 which confirmed that the basic principle of negotiation on disarmament was multilateralism. Arab countries had abandoned their nuclear option by acceding to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Nuclear weapon States were called upon to discharge their responsibilities and provide the required guarantees of security to non-nuclear weapon States. The nuclear weapon States should respect their commitments, particularly those adopted during the Sixth NPT Review Conference in 2000, including the 13 steps.

The Arab Group was disappointed at the inability of the Conference on Disarmament to respond to the appeals of the 2005 NPT Review Conference and establish a subsidiary body to deal with nuclear disarmament and start negotiations on a treaty to prohibit the production of fissile materials, including stockpiles. The Arab Group also hoped that the States parties to the NPT would use the Preparatory Committee for the next NPT Review Conference to have a genuine and impartial review of the three pillars of the NPT: nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and peaceful use, in an objective way.

In 1995, Arab States agreed on the indefinite prolongation of the NPT. However, the final document of that Review Conference was very clear, especially in outlining the importance for Israel to joint the NPT and to open its nuclear facilities to the inspection of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Arab States insisted on the necessity of the implementation of the 1995 resolution about turning the Middle East into a nuclear weapon zone. This position was now more urgent than before due to the very serious developments in the region, including Israel’s atrocious aggressions against Lebanon and Palestine. Amnesty International had called Israel’s wide spread destruction of the civilian infrastructure deliberate and part of Israel’s military strategy, saying that this was a war crime. And United Nations demining officials in Lebanon said that Israel had deliberately used cluster bombs in civilian areas in Lebanon, and now, after the ceasefire, they had become booby traps targeting the civilians and killing and wounding them. The Conference on Disarmament should work in order to help bring about an international legal system which secured security and peace in the world.

For use of the information media; not an official record

DC/06/50E