Egypt refuses to sign additional UN nuclear watchdog protocols

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Egypt refuses to sign additional measures allowing more stringent inspections of its nuclear program, especially since Israel has not even signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said according to newspapers Wednesday. Egypt has no intention of signing the Additional Protocol of the International Atomic Energy Association giving greater access to information and inspections, said Deputy Foreign Ministry Ramzy Ezzedine Ramzy in a speech Tuesday. "Egypt will not sign the Additional Protocol, since it's a voluntary thing," he stressed at a meeting of the Egyptian Council on Foreign Affairs where he delivered a speech by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.