CAIRO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Arab League chief Amr Moussa on Thursday dismissed as “ridiculous” Israeli claims that Syria was hiding Iraqi biological and chemical weapons and accused the Jewish state of harbouring weapons of mass destruction.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Tuesday Israel suspected Baghdad was transferring banned weapons to Syria to hide them from United Nations weapons inspectors. Syria said the claims were baseless.
**“This is ridiculous. The Security Council resolutions that international inspectors and the United Nations are working to implement are concerned with Iraq only,” Moussa told reporters at the 22-member League’s Cairo headquarters. “Before we talk about any other country, Israel should be inspected…The whole region needs inspections, and primarily Israel, which has weapons of mass destruction.”
Israel is widely believed to have about 300 nuclear warheads but its policy is never to discuss the issue.**
Sharon, in an interview with Israel’s Channel Two television, said: “What we believe, and I say that we have not yet confirmed it conclusively, is that weapons he (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) wants to hide, chemical and biological weapons, have indeed been sent to Syria.”
He gave no evidence to support the allegation. U.N. weapons inspectors returned to Iraq last month after a four-year hiatus to resume a hunt for banned weapons of mass destruction, which Iraq denies possessing. The United States has threatened to disarm Iraq by force if it does not obey U.N. resolutions.
Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), globalresearch.ca, 3 March 2002
*“Should war break out in the Middle East again,… or should any Arab nation fire missiles against Israel, as the Iraqis did, a nuclear escalation, once unthinkable except as a last resort, would now be a strong probability.” Seymour Hersh(1)
“Arabs may have the oil, but we have the matches.” Ariel Sharon(2)*
With between 200 and 500 thermonuclear weapons and a sophisticated delivery system, Israel has quietly supplanted Britain as the World’s 5th Largest nuclear power, and may currently rival France and China in the size and sophistication of its nuclear arsenal. Although dwarfed by the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia, each possessing over 10,000 nuclear weapons, Israel nonetheless is a major nuclear power, and should be publically recognized as such. Since the Gulf War in 1991, while much attention has been lavished on the threat posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, the major culprit in the region, Israel, has been largely ignored. Possessing chemical and biological weapons, an extremely sophisticated nuclear arsenal, and an aggressive strategy for their actual use, Israel provides the major regional impetus for the development of weapons of mass destruction and represents an acute threat to peace and stability in the Middle East.
The Israeli nuclear program represents a serious impediment to nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation and, with India and Pakistan, is a potential nuclear flashpoint (prospects of meaningful non-proliferation are a delusion so long as the nuclear weapons states insist on maintaining their arsenals). Citizens concerned about sanctions against Iraq, peace with justice in the Middle East, and nuclear disarmament have an obligation to speak out forcefully against the Israeli nuclear program. Full Article
Sure, land for peace, Saudi plan, dismantle settlements, full recognition, '67 borders etc., etc. etc. I am all for it. .....
In the end Ali, you are right, it is diplomacy and peace that will ultimately have to prevail. That assumes that all parties want peace and are willing to compromise. There is a real shortage of that these days.....
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OG
Howcome we dont hear much about that plan and all in the media now. i mean it was big news for like a day and then no one has heard of it since.
I think it would be worthwhile to have that be in spotlight globally to help solve this issue which has been used by zealots on all kinds of fronts for their own gains.
solution of that problem is in the interests of everyone involved, except for the power cravers who have used that as a basis to get and/or stay in power/
I feel secure knowing Israel has these weapons. I have never seen an Israeli go to other countries and blow himself up. Something that Osama and Saudis are really good at.
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*Originally posted by Kareem: *
I feel secure knowing Israel has these weapons.
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Im sure you would change your views if the Israelis nuked your backyard or utilized its arsenal of biological/chemical weapons... Btw, all WMD'S should be banned without any exception.
Experts state that Israels WMD is currently the biggest threat to peace within the Middle East and action should to be taken by the UN security council against the Israeli Government.
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*Originally posted by Kareem: *
^ Israelis would not do it to random countries. Osama would.
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dont count on it- after 9/11, you can do a whole load without a UN resolution, not that Isreal knows what a UN resolution is, but she sure wont hesitate to follow suit. Heck, She can even 'go it alone'.