ElBaradei Says Nuclear Israel Number One Threat to Mideast: Report

[Magda Hassan]

How long before this guy is out of a job? He is off message. Iran is having a lot of trouble because they are good nuclear citizen and a signatory of the various treaties unlike Israel. I wonder what would happen if they renounced the treaties and went their own way like Israel? Would they be treated the same? Would Israel be treated the same? Craig Murray was told by one of his MI6 contacts that Israel now has a larger nuclear arsenal than Britain. From a commentor on Craig's blog:

On the Today programme this morning, I was pleased to hear John Humphrys ask David Miliband, quite bluntly, why it was a problem for Iran to be purifying uranium but not a problem for Israel to have (supposably) scores of fully militarised nuclear warheads.
Miliband replied "It's a problem because Iran has signed the Non Proliferation Pact, and Israel has not".
And then, believe it or not, they went on with the interview for all the world as if he had answered the question.

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ElBaradei Says Nuclear Israel Number One Threat to Mideast: Report

By Chinaview

October 05, 2009 "Chinaview" -- TEHRAN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday that "Israel is number one threat to Middle East" with its nuclear arms, the official IRNA news agency reported.

At a joint press conference with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization chief Ali Akbar Salehi in Tehran, ElBaradei brought Israel under spotlight and said that the Tel Aviv regime has refused to allow inspections into its nuclear installations for 30years, the report said.

"Israel is the number one threat to the Middle East given the nuclear arms it possesses," ElBaradei was quoted as saying.

Israel is widely assumed to have nuclear capabilities, although it refuses to confirm or deny the allegation.

"This (possession of nuclear arms) was the cause for some proper measures to gain access to its (Israel's) power plants ... and the U.S. president has done some positive measures for the inspections to happen," said ElBaradei.

ElBaradei arrived in Iran Saturday for talks with Iranian officials over Tehran's nuclear program.

Leaders of the United States, France and Britain have condemned Iran's alleged deception to the international community involving covert activities in its new underground nuclear site.

Last month, Iran confirmed that it is building a new nuclear fuel enrichment plant near its northwestern city of Qom. In reaction, the IAEA asked Tehran to provide detailed information and access to the new nuclear facility as soon as possible.

On Sunday, ElBaradei said the UN nuclear watchdog would inspect Iran's new uranium plant near Qom on Oct. 25.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info...e23636.htm

[David Guyatt]

[quote=Magda Hassan]

On the Today programme this morning, I was pleased to hear John Humphrys ask David Miliband, quite bluntly, why it was a problem for Iran to be purifying uranium but not a problem for Israel to have (supposably) scores of fully militarised nuclear warheads.
Miliband replied "It's a problem because Iran has signed the Non Proliferation Pact, and Israel has not".
And then, believe it or not, they went on with the interview for all the world as if he had answered the question.

You couldn't make this stuff up. Escape from the Planets of the Apes.

Miliband must've sent his insider friends into great peals of laughter with that one.

[Jan Klimkowski]

Humphrys has a reputation of being a tenacious and forthright interviewer; occasionally politicians have been very critical of his style after being subjected to a tough interview on live radio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Humphrys

Humphrys, together with Paxman, is commonly regarded as a rotweiler, who speaks Truth to Power.

Power can rest easy tonight.

In fact, Miliband Minor's logic suggests a frightening conclusion.

China, Russia, India and the United States are not members of the International Criminal Court, and following this line of argument, cannot therefore be held accountable for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Those states foolish enough to sign up to the ICC can be found guilty of such crimes.

[David Guyatt]

Speaking of Paxman, I remember the time he was "blackballed" when he applied for membership to an Establishment Club - White's I believe, but I might have misremembered this.

For me it stood as clear testimony to honest journalism.

[Magda Hassan]

Nuclear inspection of Israel sought
Amr Moussa, Arab League chief, is said to have signed the letter sent to nuclear powers [EPA] Arab nations have urged Washington and several other nuclear powers to push for inspections of Israel's nuclear programme, diplomats have told the Associated Press news agency.
In a letter sent ahead of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting scheduled for September, the Arab League also sought support for a resolution that calls on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The letter sent on August 8 was signed by Amr Moussa, the Arab League chief.
Besides Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, the letter was also sent to foreign ministers of Russia, China, Britain and France - the four other permanent UN Security Council members.
Obama warning
The letter comes one month after Barack Obama, the US president, warned the Arab world not to use the 150-nation IAEA forum to single out Israel.
Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, agreed to work together
to oppose efforts to single out Israel at the upcoming IAEA conference.
At the time, Obama suggested that such a move would undermine the possibility of breakthrough talks on a Middle East nuclear-free zone, as proposed by the NPT conference three months ago.
But the Arab League letter says they were not attempting to single out Israel.
"Singling out a state assumes that there are a number of states in the same position and only one state was singled out," the letter says.

Referring to the NPT, the letter says: "The fact is that all the states in the region have acceded to the NPT except Israel."

Israel is commonly assumed to have nuclear weapons but refuses to discuss the issue.
Islamic nations have long called for Israel to open its programme for inspectors.
The Arab League's attempt to pressure Israel into unveiling its nuclear programme might deflect attention from Iran, which the United States and its allies accues of covertly seeking to build an atomic bomb.
Tehran denies the charge and insists its programme is for peaceful civilian purposes.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middle...02597.html