Link a Poison-Gas Ban to Atomic Weapons, Arabs Say

Arab nations threatened to disrupt the chemical warfare conference here Sunday by demanding that any ban on poison gas be linked to the outlawing of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

A group of Arab states told the 145-nation meeting that Israel has atomic weapons that endanger the Middle East--and that such weapons should be banned.

The Arab stance threatened the consensus here that would see all participants agreeing to outlaw the production as well as the deployment of chemical weapons.

During a speech to the conference Sunday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz did not mention his own nation’s reported use of chemical weapons against Iran in the Persian Gulf War.

Instead, he attacked Israel, charging: “There is no doubt whatsoever now that nuclear weapons have been introduced into this region by Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons, as well as of chemical weapons and missiles that can reach many Arab cities, including cities in Iraq.

Threat to Arab Security

“In this respect, Israel constitutes a serious threat to Arab national security, to the safety of the countries of the region and to the nuclear non-proliferation (treaty). A situation such as this calls for effective international measures to be rapidly taken in order to remove nuclear weapons from this region.

“Iraq believes that any call for a comprehensive ban on chemical weapons must be coupled with a parallel and similar call for a comprehensive ban on nuclear weapons,” Aziz added.

An Israeli delegate attempted to intervene during Aziz’s speech but was forced to wait until after the morning session. He then said it was an act of “outrageous hypocrisy” for Iraq, a nation “universally condemned” for using poison gas against its neighbor, to preach to Israel on the use of weapons.

The Israelis do not admit to possessing nuclear weapons, although the world’s major intelligence agencies, including the CIA, believe that they do.

Ambiguous Reply

The customary, ambiguous reply from Israel when it is publicly asked about the nuclear devices is: “Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East.”

However, former Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban once put it more cogently: “Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. But we won’t be the second, either.”

The Arab campaign against Israel’s purported possession of nuclear weapons was orchestrated by the 22-member Arab League, whose delegates here held a meeting late Saturday. The general view was expressed by Tunisian Foreign Minister Abdelhamid Essheik, who said: “We must recognize there is a link between chemical weapons and nuclear weapons and must take action to eliminate both these scourges.”

Israel-South Africa Link

Essheik charged that Israel has developed nuclear weapons in collaboration with South Africa.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid joined in the criticism of Israel in a speech Sunday, declaring that Israel has refused to sign the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty--as most Arab countries have done--and continues to develop its “nuclear capacity.”

He, too, called for linking a chemical warfare ban with the barring of nuclear weapons from the Middle East.

The Arab countries see the success of Iraq’s purported use of poison gas against Iran as having created a kind of “poor man’s atomic bomb” and are loath to approve a ban against chemical weapons unless Israel signs the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Superpower Reluctance

Major nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, do not want a chemical-nuclear linkage lest progress toward outlawing chemical arms be set back indefinitely.

U.S. senior officials said Sunday that they hope that after the speech-making during the five-day meeting here, the Arab nations will sign the conference’s recommendation for pursuing a global chemical warfare ban at the Geneva talks, despite their misgivings about Israel’s nuclear weapons-making capacity.