|
|
 |
 |
Sharon gives U.N. vague support for nuclear-free zone
By Associated Press
Published July 9, 2004
JERUSALEM - The head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said he won an endorsement Thursday from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to work for a nuclear-free Middle East. But the pledge appeared vague and weakened by a continued Israeli refusal to confirm its atomic capacities.
Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said he was pleased by Sharon's response, but was careful to emphasize the Israeli leader was talking about a "vision" and not a concrete plan.
Israeli officials stressed that arms control talks are far off, linking them to progress in the "road map," an internationally backed peace plan that has been stalled since its inception a year ago.
ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he was pleased by Sharon's comments.
"That's the first time I heard that from the prime minister of Israel," he said. "It's not a new policy, but affirming that policy at the level of prime minister I thought to be quite a welcome development."
The prospect of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks appeared remote Thursday, however, when at least seven Palestinians were killed and five Israeli soldiers - including two senior officers - were injured in fighting in the Gaza Strip.
In Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza strip, soldiers backed by helicopter gunships and armored bulldozers fought with militants. On Thursday afternoon, the militant group Islamic Jihad fired a missile at an Israeli jeep in the southern Gaza Strip near Morag. The commander of the southern Gaza force and another senior colonel were among the wounded.
Sharon announced on Thursday that he will open talks with the opposition Labor Party to form a broad coalition government, a union that would give the Israeli leader much-needed support as he pushes forward with his contentious Gaza withdrawal plan. Today the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, is to deliver its decision on the legality of the security barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.
- Information from Knight Ridder Newspapers was used in this report.
[Last modified July 9, 2004, 01:09:11]
World and national headlines
Trial lawyers face fresh questioning
Fire threatens habitat of age-old squirrel
Ridge gives terror update; doesn't raise color alert
Late effort by GOP curbs challenge to Patriot Act
Tuition up again, but so is aid
Sharon gives U.N. vague support for nuclear-free zone
Election 2004No Gov. Bush for convention
IraqMarine safe in Beirut, his journey a mystery
World in briefChina-U.S. meeting hinges on Taiwan
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
|
|
