Gulf to open nuclear talks this month

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A Gulf Arab official will head to Vienna this month for talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on regional plans to pursue a nuclear energy programme, a Saudi newspaper said on Sunday.

Abdul-Rahman al-Attiya, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), was quoted as saying in al-Riyadh daily that he would visit the headquarters of the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna in the third week of February.

The paper gave no other details and GCC officials could not be reached for comment.

The GCC, which groups Arab countries in the world's top oil and gas exporting region, said in December it had decided to set up a joint civil atomic programme, raising concerns the Arab states may want to protect themselves if Iran acquires nuclear weapons and sparking fears of a regional arms race.

The United States accuses Iran of pursuing a covert nuclear weapons programme, a charge Tehran denies.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in December she wanted to know more about the Gulf states' plans to study nuclear power and questioned why Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, might need atomic energy.

The GCC - which groups Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman - has given no indication on whether their nuclear energy plans, aimed ostensibly at water desalination, could involve uranium enrichment.

Diplomats in Vienna have said enrichment is unlikely.

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