Middle East nuclear weapons ban proposal stumbles at U.N.

A U.N. attempt to work out a ban on nuclear weapons in the Middle East was in jeopardy after Egypt complained on Monday about the lack of progress and demanded the resignation of the Finnish coordinator of the initiative. Western officials said Arab proposals drafted by Egypt for a major nuclear non-proliferation conference at United Nations headquarters in New York could torpedo the process and push Israel to walk away. Israel neither confirms nor denies the widespread assumption that it controls the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal.

Egypt has come to New York to secure a conference (on banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East), we want a conference.

Hashim Badr, head of Egypt’s delegation and assistant foreign minister

Egypt’s proposal said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should convene a conference on a regional ban of weapons of mass destruction within 180 days after the NPT conference ends on May 22 and demanded that Israel immediately join the NPT as a non-nuclear arms state. Despite the official backing of Arab delegations, several diplomats, including two Arabs, said that Saudi Arabia, Iraq and United Arab Emirates have reservations about Egypt’s proposal. “Egypt wants to be in charge,” a diplomat said. Israel’s delegation declined to comment on the proposal.

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