By Agencies

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Middle Eastern countries feel tricked by the 40-year-old nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), an Egyptian diplomat has warned.

Hisham Badr, Egypt's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said on Wednesday that there was widespread resentment toward the NPT, which forms the cornerstone of efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

"There is widespread resentment in the region towards the NPT and what it seeks to achieve, its double standards and lack of political will," the Egyptian envoy said.

The treaty, which is at the heart of issues like North Korea's and Iran's nuclear programmes, is due to be reviewed at a conference on May 3 to 28 in New York in an attempt to strengthen it.

Badr said it was "puzzling" that in the run up to the New York conference efforts were focused on strengthening the obligations on non-nuclear weapons states.

The previous review conference in May 2005 ended in disarray, without an agreement.

Postponed efforts

Badr suggested the nuclear powers had failed to hold their side of the bargain, while attempts to secure a nuclear weapons free Middle East at the NPT have constantly been postponed.

"We in the Middle East feel we have, short of better word, been tricked into giving concessions for promises that never materialised," Badr said at an event in the Swiss city to mark the 40th anniversary of the NPT.

Israel, which is strongly suspected of having a nuclear arsenal, has refused to sign the NPT as have both India and Pakistan, which have carried out weapons tests.

North Korea withdrew from the treaty in 2003 and started conducting nuclear tests two years later.

Non-aligned states, which Egypt currently heads, have called on Israel to formally renounce nuclear weapons.

Under the NPT, nuclear powers are meant to move to disarm in return for a pledge by other countries not to seek nuclear weapons. The right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy is also enshrined but under international oversight.

One hundred and eighty-nine countries have signed the NPT.