CAIRO // Egypt is not seeking to acquire nuclear arms and wants to rid the region of such weapons, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Saturday.
A May 2008 US cable released by WikiLeaks quoted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as warning U.S. officials Egypt might develop nuclear arms if Iran obtained them.
In 2007, Mubarak announced the resumption of a decades-old nuclear programme for generating electricity and the bid for Egypt's first nuclear power station is due in weeks.
"Egypt does not seek to get nuclear arms because they would not be used and because their costs are huge. But we seek to rid the region of nuclear arms," Gheit told reporters on the sidelines of the ruling party's conference.
Iran and Egypt severed ties in 1980 after Iran's Islamic Revolution and Egypt's recognition of Israel. They are still at odds over issues such as the Middle East peace process and ties with Israel and the United States.
Another WikiLeaks release dated July 2009 quoted Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as telling U.S. officials Iran was harbouring extremists.
In April, Egypt convicted 26 men it said were linked to Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, accusing them of planning attacks in Egypt. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the verdicts "political and unjust".
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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
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Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
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Results:
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Second Test: New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
Third Test: New Zealand 15 British & Irish Lions 15
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On Women's Day
Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action
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Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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