Iraq ratified Friday the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), an accord that however cannot enter into force until the United States, China and six other states follow suit. \"Iraq\'s commitment to relinquish the most devastating kind of weapons by banning nuclear explosions ... inches us closer towards the realisation of a zone free of nuclear weapons in the Middle East,\" said Lassina Zerbo, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). Iraq\'s move, formalised at UN headquarters in New York, raises the number of countries that have adhered fully to the treaty to 161. In the Middle East, Egypt, Israel, Iran, and Yemen have not yet ratified the CTBT, while Saudi Arabia and Syria remain outside as non-signatories. Efforts to create a zone in the Middle East free of nuclear weapons have failed to make progress, with a hoped-for meeting in late 2012 failing to take place. To enter into force, the CTBT must be signed and ratified by 44 specific states, only 36 of which have done so including France, Russia and Britain. The remaining eight are China, the United States, India, Pakistan and North Korea; Israel, widely believed to have atomic weapons; Iran, suspected of wanting them; and Egypt. Iraq under Saddam Hussein was found to have had a secret nuclear weapons programme which was disbanded following the 1991 Gulf War. In 1981 Israel bombed Iraq\'s Osirak nuclear reactor. The US-led invasion in 2003 was in part carried out on the pretext that Saddam was seeking nuclear weapons, but to date no evidence of this has been found. Source: AFP
GMT 07:59 2018 Sunday ,21 January
Thai police arrest 'kingpin' in Asian wildlife traffickingGMT 12:42 2018 Saturday ,20 January
German IS rapper killed in airstrike in Syria: monitorGMT 07:23 2018 Sunday ,07 January
Kuwaiti activist launches prison hunger strikeGMT 23:34 2018 Thursday ,04 January
Jailed Catalan ex-vice president in court to seek releaseGMT 09:14 2018 Thursday ,04 January
Israeli lawmakers advance bill on death penalty for 'terrorists'GMT 01:09 2018 Monday ,01 January
Texas police arrest man with guns in hotel set to fete New Year'sGMT 08:55 2017 Sunday ,31 December
Anti-corruption judge sidelined in PeruGMT 12:47 2017 Saturday ,30 December
Russia sentences anti-Kremlin campaigner in absentiaMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©