Kingdom, UAE to participate in nuke summit

Saudi Arabia will participate in a landmark global nuclear security summit in the Netherlands, to be attended by US President Barack Obama with 58 world leaders, and over 5,000 delegates from across the world on Monday.
The summit which seeks to promote a shared vision of a world free from weapons of mass destruction will also discuss nuclear terrorism and how to contain it.
“The Saudi delegation to The Hague summit will be led by Hashim Abdullah Yamani, president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE),” said Haleel Alanazi, a KACARE spokesman, here Sunday.
The summit, however, will be overshadowed by the problems faced by Ukraine and further steps that the G7 may take to respond to developments and to support Ukraine.
About 10 prominent member states of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will attend the nuclear summit. The notable absentees will be Iran and North Korea. The leaders together with US and European heads of state will discuss and come up with a joint declaration to reduce the levels of enriched uranium used to make nuclear weapons, raise security at nuclear storage facilities and increase global cooperation.
Asked about the possible meetings of President Obama with GCC officials on the sidelines of the summit in The Hague, an Arab diplomat said: “The American president will only meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of the UAE.”
The talks with Al-Nahyan will focus on the US efforts in Syria, nuclear negotiations with Iran and the prospect for Middle East peace talks before Obama heads for Saudi Arabia later this week.
Obama’s scheduled meeting with Al-Nahyan was earlier confirmed by Susan Rice, national security adviser of the US president.
On the sidelines of the nuclear summit, President Obama may also meet some heads of state or high-ranking officials of the member states of the OIC, he added. At least 10 OIC states including Pakistan, Turkey and Jordan are participating in the summit.
In a statement released earlier, Rice said that a G7 meeting will take place on the margins of the nuclear security summit. The meeting will focus on the situation in Ukraine and further steps that the G7 may take to respond to developments and to support Ukraine.