国际英语新闻:Middle East should be free from weapons of mass destruction: Egyptian FM

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy here Saturday that the Middle East region should be free of weapons of mass destruction during the General Debate of UN General Assembly.

Fahmy said that "a new Middle East will not come about without ensuring the right of equal security", adding that the region should be free from threats posed by the existence of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

The minister called on the countries of the region, if haven't signed or ratified any of the international conventions on weapons of mass destruction, to commit, before the end of this year, to simultaneously sign and ratify the relevant conventions.

Fahmy said that the initiative called on Israel to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear state, to ratify the Chemical Weapons convention as well as to sign and ratify the Biological Weapons Convention.

"The Palestinian question remains the main source of tension in our region," Fahmy said, welcoming the ongoing negotiations on the settlement of the Palestinian question.

"Egypt will continue to support the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and the establishment of an independent and sovereign state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on all the territories of the West Bank and Gaza, and in accordance with Arab peace initiative and relevant peace terms," he noted.

On Egypt's own situation, Fahmy said that "all Egyptians are invited to participate in all phases of the political process, as long as they are committed to the renunciation of violence and terrorism, and of acts of incitement to them."

The minister said that recent "desperate terrorist attacks" in some parts of Egypt are aimed at undermining the democratic process and destroying the economy.