PGulf Cooperation Council members, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are expected to hold talks with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to discuss plans to launch a regional nuclear program, a Persian Gulf official said in remarks published Saturday.

“There are preparations underway for meetings in the coming weeks with officials from the IAEA about the PGCC nuclear program,” Persian Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdul Rahman Al Attiya told an UAE newspaper.

Earlier and at a joint press conference with the visiting Italian counterpart Massimo D'Alema in Riyadh, Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud Al Faisal said that the PGCC states decided to join the nuclear industry because of its potential for peaceful uses, stressing that the PGCC states’ nuclear program would be developed under strict controls and with peaceful intentions, to be an example for any country seeking to adopt the technology without any intention to join the nuclear arms race that Israel, believed to possess massive nuclear weapons, started in the region.

Speaking to reporters after the summit, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the PGCC states’ intention to pursue civilian nuclear technology was not a “threat” to anyone. “We are announcing our intention to pursue the ownership of nuclear technology for peaceful (purposes),” he said.

“It is not a threat... It is an announcement so that there will be no misinterpretation of what we are doing. We are not doing this secretly. We are doing it openly,” he said.

“We want no bombs... Our policy is to have a region free of weapons of mass destruction,” the prince added. “This is why we call on Israel to renounce (nuclear weapons).” The “original sin” was from Israel as it established a nuclear reactor with the only purpose of producing nuclear weapons, Prince Saud was quoted as saying.

Last month’s summit in Riyadh was the first time for leaders of the oil-rich Arab states in the Persian Gulf to announce plans for a joint program for the use of nuclear technology.

“The states of the Persian Gulf region have a right to possess nuclear energy technology for peaceful purposes,” the final communiqué issued after the PGCC summit said. (Source: Aljazeera.com)