Us-uae Cooperation Pact Initialed; Approval Left To Obama, New Congress

摘要

A bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement between the US and the United Arab Emirates, or UAE, was quickly negotiated, initialed by both countries two weeks ago, and is ready to be signed, Middle East diplomatic sources said.rnAccording to sources, the UAE and the US will sign the agreement after President-Elect Barack Obama is inaugurated in January and after the UAE is confident that the US Congress will approve the accord.rnThe agreement was negotiated after UAE Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed al Nahyan, and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear cooperation on April 21.rnIn parallel, the UAE is preparing to launch a nuclear power program, working with a group of international consultants. The UAE is also establishing the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp., or ENEC. This organization would eventually become the owner of one or more nuclear power plants set up in the UAE, provided that the UAE government makes a formal decision to implement a nuclear power program, said officials in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital. Some sources, attending the MENA Nuclear Forum conference in Qatar last week, said that might happen in early 2009.