Nuclear disarmament

Israel denounced the planned meeting which is backed by nearly 200 nations, signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the cornerstone of global disarmament efforts.

"This resolution is deeply flawed and hypocritical," Netanyahu said during a visit to Toronto, Canada, on Saturday.

"It ignores the realities of the Middle East and the real threats facing the region and the entire world," he insisted.

Israel singled out

His comments came after an agreement reached on Friday at the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NTP) review conference in New York, which calls for the conference on a nuclear-free Middle East. Some 189 nations agreed to the 28-page document following a month-long conference on strengthening the NPT.

The agreement makes special mention of Israel, stressing "the importance of Israel's accession to the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards."

"It singles out Israel, the Middle East's only true democracy and the only country threatened with annihilation," Netanyahu said.

The NPT treaty did not mention other nuclear powers that have not signed up to the non-proliferation treaty, such as India and Pakistan.

Netanyahu has the backing of US President Barack Obama, who said on Friday that "we [the US] strongly oppose actions that jeopardize Israel's national security."

Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, but it refuses to deny or acknowledge their existence.

EU approval

Earlier On Saturday, Europe's top diplomat praised the NPT conference.

"I warmly welcome the consensus reached by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference," said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in a statement. "This shows that the multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament regime is alive and supported by all."

It was the first agreement in 10 years on the NPT, which has set the global agenda for fighting the spread of nuclear weapons since 1970.

Diplomats at the conference approved on Friday a final document that laid out action plans on the three pillars of the treaty - disarmament, non-proliferation and the promotion of peaceful atomic energy.

Currently there are 189 NPT member countries, five of which are recognized as nuclear weapon states: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China.

The parties taking part in the conference called on North Korea to return to negotiations to settle the dispute over its own nuclear activities.

ng/smh/dpa/AFP
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar