Country committed to fight nuclear terrorism, says Al Ka'abi

Abu Dhabi: The UAE has a strong infrastructure to prevent nuclear terrorism, and security forces have already prevented the transfer of potentially dangerous unauthorised cargo, said an official with an international agency on Tuesday.

Hamad Al Ka'abi, the UAE's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that the UAE was actively committed to non-proliferation, and already had a legal framework, strong penalties for violators and an information sharing system to combat nuclear terrorism.

"UAE security forces have interdicted scores of ships suspected of carrying illicit cargo and sensitive shipments which could be used for the manufacture of weapons systems," Al Ka'abi said.

He was speaking at a conference held to discuss the future directions of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) in combating global nuclear terrorism in the capital.

Al Ka'abi added that the UAE has been an active participant in the GICNT since 2008, and had achieved high standards of security as a result of collaboration with member nations.

He also said that the country was looking into training UAE nationals who can put in place a system of national nuclear security.

Participants at the GICNT meeting discussed their specific roles within the worldwide effort to prevent nuclear terrorism, and agreed to focus on nuclear detection and forensics for the following year. In addition, the meeting saw the formation of a body, which will be headed by Spain for the first year, to coordinate strategic sharing of future GICNT activities.

"The newly-formed Implementation and Assessment Group (IAG) will be responsible for planning procedure and policy which can be adopted by all members, and will enable strategic information sharing amongst the participants," said Thomas Lowe, director of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Office.

He also commended the UAE's strategic leadership role in combating terrorism.