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Arabs to Target Israel at UN Atom Body, Resist West

(Reuters-New York Times/AP-Washington Post) Arab states pledged on Thursday to step up pressure on Israel to join a global anti-nuclear arms pact, defying U.S. warnings their action could harm Middle East peace talks. The U.S. and its Western allies urged the group to withdraw a planned resolution at the IAEA's annual assembly next week calling on Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The U.S. envoy to the IAEA said the non-binding resolution targeting Israel would undermine broader efforts in 2012 toward establishing a region free of weapons of mass destruction, and could also upset Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. "It would do nothing but send a negative signal to the larger peace process," said Amb. Glyn Davies. Israel, which would have to forswear atomic arms if it signed the NPT, says it needs full Middle East peace first. The U.S. alarmed Israel in May by backing Egypt's initiative for the 2012 meeting, but Washington has since pledged to keep the Jewish state from being singled out. In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed that the U.S. is concerned that the Arab move, should it happen, could jeopardize the Mideast talks. "First of all, let's state a fact," Crowley said. "Israel has fully cooperated with the IAEA and that is in contrast to one or more governments, Iran and Syria being two that come to mind, who have not cooperated with the IAEA."
2010-09-17 09:02:40
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