Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has appealed to the United Nations Security Council to put Israel's nuclear program under international supervision and set a timeframe for a nuclear-free Middle East.

In a letter to the 15-member council last week, Aboul Gheit highlighted that Israel has not signed onto the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) adding: “Israel's nuclear capabilities cannot evade world attention.”
An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Aboul Gheit had sent the letter to all 15 members, rather than the five permanent powers, in order to give other states a chance to voice their stance on the issue.
For the first time in 18 years, Israel, the United States and the Western powers last week were unsuccessful at preventing passage of a resolution calling on Israel to sign the NPT.
The resolution, passed at the end of the annual general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Thursday, also demands that Israel open its nuclear reactor in Dimona to international inspectors.
The resolution was passed by a majority of 49 countries, among them the members of the Arab League and the bloc of developing nations; against 45 Western countries, including the European Union and the United States, and 16 abstentions.
The non-binding resolution mentions “Israeli nuclear capabilities.”
In the past, the United States and other Western countries were able to persuade the developing countries not to join the resolution, thus thwarting its passage.
Another resolution, passed with the agreement of Israel and Egypt, calls for nuclear disarmament in the Middle East, and for dialogue among all nations in the region to this end.
Meanwhile About Gheit urged Israel on Friday to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured in 2006, AP reported.
Egypt has been mediating a prisoner swap and Aboul Gheit said Israel needs to show flexibility.
A year ago, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar accused Israel of going back on a promise to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Cpl. Gilad Shalit who was captured by Hamas resistance fighters in a cross-border raid near the Gaza border in 2006.
“If you want a soldier, if you need a certain commodity and you are ready to pay in that commodity then pay for the sake of the soldier — give the Palestinians what they are after,” Aboul Gheit said in an interview with the Associated Press on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
“I think what they are after (is) 1,000 prisoners that would be exchanged for the sake of the soldier Shalit,” he said.
“I would encourage people to do (it),” Aboul Gheit said. “Why not? What is wrong? Give them the thousand and take your soldiers and give him back to his family and his people and let the family enjoy having him back.”
The Egyptian minister said a prisoner swap could also lead to an opening of border crossings into Gaza.
“The problem is the Israelis are insisting there will not be a permanent opening of the crossings unless Shalit is released,” Aboul Gheit said.
Israel has severely restricted the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza since Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007.
“What we are telling the Israelis,” Aboul Gheit said, “(is) make the exchange and facilitate for yourself and for the Palestinians.”
Egypt is also trying to mediate a power-sharing deal between Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank.
A unity deal is seen as key to reaching an eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and to rebuilding Gaza after Israel's winter war against Hamas in December and January.
“Eventually, we're sure that we will manage to bring the Palestinians together,” Aboul Gheit said.

(Source: haaretz.com