7 September 2006

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) held a plenary meeting on Thursday 7 September, where the CD accepted Bahrain as an observer state. Ambassador Abdulla Abdullatif Abdulla from Bahrain made the only statement of the meeting on behalf of the Arab States who are member states of the CD and those who participate as observers.

Nuclear Disarmament
The Arab States reaffirmed their attachment to the General Assembly and that the basic principle of disarmament negotiations is multilateralism.

The Arab States explained that they have voluntary given up the nuclear weapons option under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and urged the nuclear weapon states to provide required security assurances to non-nuclear weapon states. They also urged all nuclear weapon states to respect the 2000 NPT Review Conference where the 13 practical steps to implement Article VI were adopted.

The Arab States hoped the State Parties to the NPT would use the preparatory committee for the next review conference to review the three pillars of the NPT (nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and “peaceful use” of nuclear technology) in an objective way (quotes added).

They were disappointed the CD had not managed to establish a subsidiary body to deal with nuclear disarmament and start negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty including stockpiles.

Weapons in the Middle East
The Arab States support a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East, as discussed in the General Assembly resolutions on a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East and the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East (60/52 and 60/92). In the light of the latest developments in the region, the Arab States said it was more urgent than ever for Israel to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and place their nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, as called for in the final documentof the 2000 NPT Review Conference (article 7, paragraph 16, item 3).

Using statistics from Amnesty International, the Arab states discussed Israel’s destruction of civilian infrastructure and the use of cluster bombs in civilian areas in Lebanon and Palestine. They said the CD should work to create an international legal system enabling security and peace in the world, and hoped it would agree on program of work related to all members' security interests.

- Jennifer Nordstrom, Reaching Critical Will and
Beatrice Fihn, Disarmament Intern

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom