Nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Mideast – First Cttee debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly

Fifty-seventh session 

First Committee

4th meeting

Tuesday, 2 October 2002, 10 a.m. 

New York

The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

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  Mrs. Notutela (South Africa): …

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 The situation in the Middle East, like that in South Asia, is made more complex by the aspirations of States in those regions to weapons of mass destruction. South Africa reiterates its call on those States, as well as States in other regions of the world, to all become parties to the international agreements on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and also to comply with international norms against the proliferation of missile delivery systems. Recent history has repeatedly shown, as was the case with South Africa itself, that security is not provided by the continued retention of, or aspiration to, those weapons. The possession of nuclear weapons by the apartheid Government in South Africa was, rather, a source of instability, destabilization and continued conflict in our region.

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Mr. Chowdhury (Bangladesh):  …

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 The situation in the Middle East and the Gulf seems to be sinking deeper into the morass of wider conflict.

  There is no sign of lessening of violence in the Middle East as efforts by the Quartet and other influential players fall badly short of the much-needed serious and concerted push for a revival of the peace process.

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  The concept of zones free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction should be pursued to cover more regions. Particular emphasis should be placed on the early achievement of such status in the Middle East. In that context, we emphasize the urgent need to persuade Israel to join the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon State and to place all its nuclear installations under international monitoring. Like other States in the region, Israel must also be persuaded to give up procurement, production, stockpiling and the use of all other forms of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons. Inspite of the demonstration of nuclear capability by two Member States in South Asia, renewed efforts should be made to persuade them to relinquish the nuclear option and join the NPT as non-nuclear-weapon States.

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  Mr. Al-Kulaib (Kuwait) (spoke in Arabic): …

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  My country has also welcomed Cuba’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). That is another step forward. In that regard, we call on Israel, the only country in the Middle East that has not acceded to the NPT and the only State that has nuclear weapons, thereby defying United Nations resolutions and repeated international appeals to accede immediately to the NPT, to eliminate its nuclear weapons and subject all its nuclear installations to the safeguards regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We also call upon all countries of the world to stop sales of scientific and technological products that enhance the nuclear arsenal of Israel or of any other State seeking to develop programmes for weapons of mass destruction.

  Kuwait reiterates its support for convening a fourth special session of the General Assembly on disarmament. We support the conclusion of a non-discriminatory and internationally verifiable multilateral treaty to prohibit the production of fissile materials used in producing nuclear weapons and other explosive nuclear devices. Israel’s nuclear status constitutes an obvious disruption of the regional balance of power and is a source of ongoing concern for the entire Middle East region. It remains the main obstacle to making the Middle East a zone free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

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    The meeting rose at 12.35 p.m.

This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room C-154A. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum.