DACCA: The Commerce Minister, Mr Ghulam Faruque, today [Nov 30] declared in the National Assembly that the French Government had agreed to finance the conventional part of the Rooppur nuclear plant which represented 40 per cent of the foreign exchange component of the Project.

Speaking on a private member’s resolution urging the immediate establishment of Rooppur atomic plant with the country’s own resources in the National Assembly, Mr Ghulam Faruque said he had been informed of the French decision to take care of the conventional part of the plant through its Trade Commissioner in Karachi.

The Minister declared that the Rooppur plant was an urgent necessity in the present economic condition of the province and that it could not be delayed any further. He assured the members that within a few days the House “will have the satisfaction of knowing that a definite decision” had been taken. Under the present circumstances it was essential to have a plant of the size of Rooppur (140 megawatts). The economic development of the Province also demanded that atomic energy should be the best.

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies from Amman,] King Hussein of Jordan [said] yesterday that the Middle East was on the brink of an explosion, more dangerous to world peace than the Suez crisis of 1956.

His warning was directed at Israel, the Arab world and the West.

He said his armed forces would strike back at Israel — and strike extremely hard — if Israel attacks again across the armistice line.

“Our patience is at an end and we won’t stand for any further aggression,” he said in an interview at the Royal Palace in Amman.

King Hussein charged that some of his Arab neighbours were serving Communist ends by calling for his overthrow.

Published in Dawn December 1st, 2016