Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 6, 1990 TAG: 9004060165
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: NICOSIA, CYPRUS LENGTH: Short
The proposal, coming three days after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's threat to retaliate with nerve gas against any Israeli attack, appeared designed to paint Israel into a diplomatic corner. It was made by the foreign ministers of Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen in Amman and independently seconded by the Syrian foreign minister in an Israeli newspaper interview.
In public, Israel officials were skeptical, but regional arms reduction has become a topic of serious discussion in the foreign and defense ministries, government sources said.
Iraq and its three allies in the Arab Cooperation Council declared that any Mideast disarmament "should be balanced."
"All kinds of destructive weapons, including nuclear, chemical and biological, should be prohibited in order to guarantee regional and international security," the foreign ministers said.
Israel is the only Middle Eastern nation reputed to have nuclear arms, a strategic trump card in any regional conflict. Also, former defense minister Yitzhak Rabin responded to Hussein's threat by saying Israel could respond "many times over" to a Iraqi chemical assault.
Responding to Thursday's Arab proposal, Yosef Olmert, a government spokesman, remarked, "Let those who have used chemical weapons ban them first," referring to Iraq's wartime attacks.
by CNB