The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Vienna

Arab states on Thursday pushed through a resolution at the UN atomic agency clearly aimed at Israel, calling for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.

The UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted an Egyptian-sponsored resolution on a nuclear weapons-free-zone in the Middle East with Israel and the US voting against and EU states except Ireland abstaining.

The lack of consensus weakened the impact of the measure, at a general conference of the 144-nation IAEA.

The resolution was backed by 53 votes, with two against and 47 abstentions.

The IAEA has a tradition of adopting resolutions by consensus but the Middle East issue has become highly politicized, even though Israel backs a nuclear weapons-free-zone (NWFZ) within the framework of a Middle East peace setlement

Some Western and non-aligned diplomats said the problem this year was that Iran was agitating behind the scenes for a showdown over Israel, in order to distract from its own nuclear programme.

One Western diplomat said the large abstention vote, which included Australia, Canada, Georgia, Ghana and Zambia, "shows that the world is hanging together on these maters."

But the Iranian speaker blasted the vote as puting into question the views of "some members that full-scope safeguards" need be complemented by wider inspection measures, as Israel, which has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) seemed to be exempt from this.