UNITED NATIONS, April 16: Accusing the United States of pursuing the Israeli agenda in the Middle East in threatening sanctions against Syria, Arab diplomats on Tuesday sought a UN Security Council vote to declare the region a “zone free of weapons of mass destruction.”
Following a closed meeting of the Arab Group here, the diplomats said they would ask the Security Council on Wednesday to adopt a resolution declaring the Middle East a “zone free of weapons of mass destruction.”
“The only party in the region with weapons of mass destruction is Israel,” said Syria’s deputy ambassador Fayssal Mekdad after the meeting. “If Israel is the only country, then why are the accusations against Syria?”
The United States is Israel’s closest ally and Israel has sought a deal with Syria in which it could possibly annex the occupied Golan Heights in exchange for diplomatic ties with Damascus.
Top US officials have accused Syria in recent days of developing chemical weapons, giving sanctuary to fleeing Iraqi officials and assisting President Saddam Hussein in his effort to defend Iraq against the US invasion. Syria has denied the accusations.
Numerous governments have accused Washington of double standards in trying to crack down on Syria, Iran and North Korea while ignoring Israel, which is widely assumed to have nuclear arms and possibly other weapons of mass destruction. “These allegations unfortunately have been formulated in Israel,” Syrian ambassador Mikhail Wehbe told reporters. “We hope they will realize that Syria is an important country in the Middle East and these allegations would not serve peace and security in the Middle East,” he said.
Yahya Mahmassani, the Arab League’s ambassador to the United Nations, dismissed the US allegations as “unacceptable and unfounded.”.
