- JERUSALEM (AFP) - A newly-signed
International Code of Conduct (ICOC) aimed at preventing proliferation
of ballistic missiles is incompatible with Israel's security interests,
the foreign ministry said. "Unfortunately, this code is inadequate
and does not take into account the national interests of Israel and, therefore,
we can not sign it," the ministry said in a statement.
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- It said however that "Israel shares the objectives"
of the conference in The Hague at which the ICOC was signed Monday.
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- The 92 nations present at the launching conference signed
the code of conduct, among them all 15 EU members, plus nuclear powers
Russia and the United States.
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- But several nations developing such weapons were absent
from the conference in The Hague.
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- "It is the first global non-proliferation instrument
that specifically deals with systems capable of delivering weapons of mass
destruction," explained Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
at the launch.
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- Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Syria, Pakistan and
India were absent from the gathering.
-
- The code is designed to ensure greater transparency on
the development and testing of the powerful weapons and requires signatory
states to prepare an annual report on their programmes and to signal any
upcoming weapons tests.
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- But the code is also a paper tiger, since it does not
have the formal status of a treaty, includes no sanctions for countries
which flaunt its rules and lacks the backing of several states armed with
ballistic weapons.
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