Haaretz
Cheshvan 14, 2006
Six Arab states have announced
plans to embark on programs to develop nuclear energy, according to a
report by the Times of London.
According to the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the countries involved are Algeria, Egypt,
Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
The
report states that the move, which follows the failure by the West to curb
Iran's controversial nuclear program, may signal an upcoming rapid spread
of nuclear reactors in the Middle East and North Africa.
The six
countries have expressed a desire to build civilian nuclear energy
programs, which are permitted under international law, the paper
said.
But according to the report, the sudden rush to nuclear power
has raised suspicions that the real intention is to acquire nuclear
technology which could be used for the first Arab atomic bomb.
The
Times report quoted Tomihiro Taniguchi, the deputy director-general of the
IAEA, as telling the business weekly Middle East Economic Digest that the
countries are seeking nuclear power "primarily for desalinization
purposes."
But Mark Fitzpatrick, an expert on nuclear proliferation
at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that it was
clear that the sudden drive for nuclear expertise was to provide the Arabs
with a "security hedge," the report said.
According to the Times,
the announcement by the six countries presents a reversal of policy in the
Arab world, which had until recently been pressing for a nuclear free
Middle East, where only Israel has nuclear weapons.