Posted on 11/08/2004 8:54:03 PM PST by politicalvanguard.com
Asia-Pacific officials are today considering how to increase security at nuclear facilities in what the top UN nuclear watchdog has called a race to prevent terrorists from getting weapons material.
The officials met privately at a Sydney hotel to work out details of a statement signed late yesterday by ministers from 18 nations in the region, which pledged to ”expand and enhance the nuclear safeguards and security framework.”
Nations at the conference vowed to adopt tighter international security standards and work together to tighten border controls to prevent the illicit export of nuclear materials.
Speaking to reporters outside the conference, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief said the world is not ready for a nuclear or radiological attack by terrorists and must hurry to strengthen nonproliferation measures to prevent such a possibility.
“We are in a race against time because it is something we were not prepared for,” Mohamed ElBaradei said. “We have to cross our fingers that nothing will happen.”
In his annual report to the United Nations earlier this month, ElBaradei said there is an “extensive illicit market” for nuclear material.
In a newspaper interview printed today, ElBaradei also said that eliminating Israel’s nuclear capability is key to Middle East peace efforts.
“This is not really sustainable, that you have Israel sitting with nuclear weapons capability there while everyone else is part of the nonproliferation regime,” ElBaradei told The Sydney Morning Herald.
In an indication of high tensions in the region, Egypt on Sunday angrily denied it has a secret nuclear weapons program in response to reports that ElBaradei’s agency is investigating plutonium particles found near an Egyptian nuclear facility.
Diplomats in Austria said Friday that the Vienna-based agency is trying to determine if the particles are evidence of an Egyptian weapons program or simply the byproduct of peaceful research.
It's a race against idiots, like those at the U.N.
How soon until we give El Baradei the Gong Show hook?
It's a very interesting article but I don't think it's really "Breaking News". Front page maybe.
Mohamed ElBaradei said. “We have to cross our fingers that nothing will happen.”
This guys gotta go.
Speaking to reporters outside the conference, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief said the world is not ready for a nuclear or radiological attack by terrorists and must hurry to strengthen nonproliferation measures to prevent such a possibility.
Oh, NOW it's a problem! Nice work, schmuck.
"In a newspaper interview printed today, ElBaradei also said that eliminating Israel 's nuclear capability is key to Middle East peace efforts."
"everyone else is part of the nonproliferation regime"?!? For that ridiculous statement, elBaradei should be put on trial for crimes against humanity. Or maybe just put on a slab. Israel doesn't deal its nuclear technology, and various of its not too neighborly neighbors have tried (or are trying, in Egypt's case, with elBaradei's help) to get nukes. Saddam planned to drop his Bomb on Tel Aviv.
Ya think Isreal's nukes are what has kept the Arabs away from them?
Well DUHH!
Dis-arm Isreal, let the Arabs kill all of them and then you have Mid-East peace.
Typical UN strategy.
ElBaradei would suspect the Vatican of having a nuclear program before investigating the nations who are on record of supporting terrorism and spreading violence around the world. Who'd a thunk Libya had a nuclear weapons program? America and Britian did. The IAEA didn't.
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