Saudi Arabia Exempt From Nuke Inspections (AP/Yahoo)

[Gold Metal Flake]

VIENNA, Austria - Board members of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency approved a deal Thursday that exempts Saudi Arabia from nuclear inspections, despite serious misgivings about the arrangement in an era of heightened proliferation fears.

....

There is little concern the Saudis are trying to make nuclear arms, but diplomats accredited to the meeting said Riyadh's resistance to inspections — and any new deals limiting the IAEA's powers to investigate — were disconcerting at a time of increased fears countries or terrorists might be interested in acquiring such weapons.

....

While the Saudi government insists it has no interest in nuclear arms, in the past two decades it has been linked to prewar Iraq's nuclear program and to the Pakistani nuclear black marketeer A.Q. Khan. It also has expressed interest in Pakistani missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Saudi officials reportedly discussed pursuing the nuclear option as a deterrent in the volatile Middle East.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050616/ap_on_re_eu/un_nuclear_agency

[jasop]

1. Well of course they are silly...

most of the terrorists and Osama Bin Laden were from Saudi Arabia so its only logical that.... errr.. uhm.... wait a minute...

[leesa]

2. Aw, ain't that cute....just like the other terrorist nations, the US,

Israel and now SA.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Distinction

Saudi Arabia is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Israel is not, and therefore, not subject to a treaty they have not signed.

[cliss]

3. Well, let's see here.....

"There is little concern the Saudis are trying to make nuclear arms..."

But the Saudis are resisting any inspections. Also, they have expressed interest in other countries' nuclear arms buildups. They have even discussed pursuing the nuclear option.

Could they possibly have something to hide?

[applegrove]

4. They are the model of a wealthy elite dominating other world economies.

Why would you insult your model like that?

[leftchick]

5. Saudi exemption from nuke watch

http://www.7days.ae/content/view/3118/5/

The Saudis insist they have no plans to develop nuclear arms _ and no facilities or nuclear stocks that warrant inspection. As such, they qualify for the protocol, which has been implemented by 75 nations, most of them small and in politically stable parts of the world and which leaves the agency with little choice but to accept the word of nations involved that they have nothing to inspect.

But the timing of the deal for the Saudis comes amid persistent tensions in the Middle East and concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions. It also coincides with an agency push to tighten or rescind the protocol, as suggested in a confidential IAEA document prepared for the board and also made available to AP on Tuesday.

While the Saudi government insists it has no interest in nuclear arms, in the past two decades it has been linked to prewar Iraq's nuclear program and to the Pakistani nuclear black marketeer A.Q. Khan. It also has expressed interest in Pakistani missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and Saudi officials reportedly discussed pursuing the nuclear option as a deterrent in the volatile Middle East.

The Saudis have resisted pressure from the United States, the European Union and Australia to either back away from the small quantities protocol or agree to inspections, as reflected by a confidential EU briefing memo given to the AP earlier this week by a diplomat accredited to the agency who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to release it. ormal text (Utopia)

[BlueEyedSon]

6. They have all the wells boobytrapped with nukes, in case of invasion.

[otohara]

7. Doesn't The Royal Family Have A System in Place in Case of Coup

to have all the oil refineries blown up?

[BelgianMadCow]

9. Well, well, Mr Khan in the news...great!