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U.S. Inks Nuclear Deal with Persian Gulf Sheikdom Cited for Human Rights Abuses

U.S. Inks Nuclear Deal with Persian Gulf Sheikdom Cited for Human Rights AbusesTuesday, April 14, 2009By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) – The State Department forged a nuclear cooperation deal with a Middle East ally that the department’s own human rights report criticizes for censorship of the media, trials without juries, arrests of homosexuals, flogging of  prisoners who violate Islamic rules, and religious sermons drafted by a government agency, among other concerns.

The nuclear agreement between the United States and the UAE was concluded five days before President Barack Obama was inaugurated. The White House is expected to send it to Congress after April 20 for review. ………………………Once the nuclear cooperation deal is submitted, Congress has 90 days to review the agreement, which would allow joint ventures with U.S. firms to assist the UAE in building a fleet of civilian nuclear power plants, the first of which would be operating by 2017. The agreement would become binding absent congressional action within those 90 days. (If Congress objects through a joint resolution, the proposal could be amended or shelved.)

The agreement includes, as it states, an “exchange of scientific and technical information and documentation” between the United States and UAE; an “exchange and training of personnel;” “provisions relevant to technical assistance,” and the transfer of “material, equipment and components.” A key concern for members of Congress has been that the country has a record as a transshipment post to Iran.

CNSNews.com – U.S. Inks Nuclear Deal with Persian Gulf Sheikdom Cited for Human Rights Abuses

April 15, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | MIDDLE EAST, politics