President s son proposes peaceful nuclear program
CAIRO: The United States could cooperate with Egypt if it decides to develop nuclear energy, the U.S. ambassador to Cairo said on Thursday. Gamal Mubarak, son of the president and a ruling party official, said this week Egypt should consider exploiting nuclear power as a new source of energy. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone said Washington would have no problem with this. Ricciardone said there could be no comparison between the peaceful use of nuclear technology by Egypt and Iran which the UN Security Council has ordered to suspend uranium enrichment. If Egypt, after detailed study on this subject, decides that nuclear power is a positive thing and important for Egypt, we can cooperate in this field. Why not? Ricciardone told Al-Mehwar television channel. We have a program, the Global Nuclear Energy Program. We are ready to supply nuclear technology to friendly states which want to benefit from civilian, peaceful nuclear power, he said, speaking in Arabic. The U.S. believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a nuclear energy program. Tehran denies the charge. Iran has … a program to produce nuclear weapons. This is one thing, but the matter of civilian nuclear energy is something totally different, Ricciardone said. Cairo and Washington have been allies since the late 1970s, when the United States brokered Egypt s peace treaty with Israel.
Gamal Mubarak s proposal could aim to establish his own credentials as a serious politician and to publicly distance him from the United States, which is locked in a confrontation with Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
The younger Mubarak first raised the proposal on Tuesday in a speech to a conference of the ruling National Democratic Party, where he is deputy secretary-general. He addressed it again at a press conference Wednesday.
It s important to have a future look for the coming 20 years, especially in light of the developments that take place in the oil market in general, and Egypt s economic growth and increase of consumption, Mubarak said when asked about nuclear energy.
When looking at the future, the NDP believes in the importance of putting alternative sources of energy on the agenda, he said.
He also hinted at the impasse between the UN and Iran over that country s nuclear program, which the United States and many in Europe say is secretly aimed at developing weapons. Iran says the program is intended only to generate electricity.
Egypt is not the only country that is thinking about this alternative to save on energy sources, Mubarak said.
But he underlined that any Egyptian nuclear program in Egypt would not be aimed at developing weapons. Egypt has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which stipulates that members use nuclear energy for peaceful means, he said.
Many in Egypt believe the 42-year-old pro-business politician is being put on track to succeed his father, Hosni Mubarak, when his term ends in 2011. Both Mubaraks have denied any plans for succession, but frequent appearances at official functions in Egypt and several trips to the U.S., which have included meetings with top officials, have fed the speculation.
Egypt has conducted nuclear experiments on a very small scale, according to the UN s nuclear watchdog.
In February 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency disclosed that it was investigating Egypt s nuclear activities. It concluded that Egypt had conducted atomic research for as long as four decades, ending it as recently as 2000, but that research did not appear to be aimed at developing nuclear weapons and did not include uranium enrichment.
Egyptian officials have largely remained on the sidelines of international criticism of Iran s nuclear program, which the U.S. has said aims to produce nuclear weapons, although Tehran claims its goal is to generate electricity.
Egypt, a country of more than 73 million, is the second biggest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel, which is thought to have the Middle East s only nuclear arsenal. Agencies
