DATE=5/30/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-233067
TITLE=PAKISTAN / MIDDLE EAST REACT (L ONLY)
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: OFFICIAL REACTION TO PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR TESTS HAS BEEN
RESTRAINED IN THE MIDDLE EAST, BUT COMMENTARY IN THE NEWS MEDIA
HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE AND WIDE RANGING. CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB HAS
A SAMPLE OF THE RESPONSE FROM THE REGION IN THIS REPORT FROM OUR
MIDDLE EAST BUREAU IN CAIRO.
TEXT: ONE OF THE FIRST OFFICIAL RESPONSES TO PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR
TESTS CAME FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE, ESMAT
ABDEL MEGUID, WHO CALLED THE TESTS A DANGEROUS STEP. HE SAID THEY
UNDERMINE STABILITY AND ENCOURAGE A REGIONAL ARMS RACE.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE FOREIGN MINISTRY OF IRAN ECHOED THE
SENTIMENT, SAYING THE TESTS COULD HAVE A DESTRUCTIVE IMPACT ON
WORLD SECURITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT. THE IRANIAN OFFICIAL BLAMED
THE SITUATION ON THE ABSENCE OF AN ALL-INCLUSIVE NUCLEAR
DISARMAMENT PROGRAM.
EGYPT'S FOREIGN MINISTER AMR MOUSSA WAS MORE BLUNT, SAYING THAT
WITH PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR TESTS, THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION
TREATY WAS, IN HIS WORDS, GONE WITH THE WIND. AND HE URGED ALL
NATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, IN PARTICULAR ISRAEL, TO SIGN THE
TREATY.
EDITORIAL COMMENT IN THE REGION ALSO FOCUSED ON THE FACT THAT
MOST GOVERNMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST HAVE SIGNED THE NUCLEAR
NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY, WHILE ISRAEL HAS NOT. MANY PUBLISHED
UNCONFIRMED NEWS REPORTS THAT ISRAEL HAS AT LEAST ONE HUNDRED
NUCLEAR WARHEADS. AS A RESULT, SOME, LIKE QATAR'S AL-RAYA
NEWSPAPER, CALLED THE PAKISTANI TESTS A COURAGEOUS MOVE BY A
MUSLIM COUNTRY TO MAINTAIN SOME KIND OF STRATEGIC BALANCE WITH
ISRAEL.
THE AL-KHALEEJ NEWSPAPER OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES,
SAID ARAB NATIONS HAD FAILED TO KEEP PACE WITH ISRAEL MILITARILY
AND IT HOPED THE TESTS WOULD LEAD TO A STRATEGIC BALANCE WHICH
WOULD BOLSTER MIDDLE EAST PEACE EFFORTS.
MANY NEWSPAPERS, LIKE SAUDI ARABIA'S AL-BILAD, EXPRESSED FEARS
THAT THE TESTS BY PAKISTAN AND INDIA, WILL RAISE TENSIONS IN THE
REGION, AND, LIKE RIYAHD'S AL-MEDINA NEWSPAPER, SAID THEY MIGHT
PRESS ISRAEL TO DEVELOP A NUCLEAR BOMB. A NUMBER OF OUTLETS,
LIKE EGYPT'S AL-AHRAM NEWSPAPER AND LIBYA'S JANA NEWS AGENCY,
CRITICIZED THE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST PAKISTAN AND INDIA
ANNOUNCED BY SEVERAL WESTERN GOVERNMENTS. THEY SAID IT WAS
IRONIC THESE SANCTIONS CAME FROM GOVERNMENTS WHICH THEMSELVES
CONTINUE TO STOCKPILE HUNDREDS OF NUCLEAR WARHEADS.
JORDAN'S AL DUSTOUR NEWSPAPER EXPRESSED THE CONCERN OF MANY,
HOWEVER, SAYING THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THE PAKISTANI AND INDIAN
NUCLEAR TESTS COULD EVENTUALLY REACH THE MIDDLE EAST.
NEVERTHELESS, MANY EXPRESSED A SENSE OF PRIDE, AS SEEN IN THE
FRONT PAGE HEADLINE OF THE LONDON-BASED, ARABIC LANGUAGE DAILY --
AL-HAYAT -- WHICH PROCLAIMED: PAKISTAN, THE SEVENTH NUCLEAR POWER
IN THE WORLD, AND THE FIRST IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/DW
30-May-98 1:50 PM EDT (1750 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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