Officials responsible for small arms control policies in the Middle East met from 15-17 July at the League of Arab States in Cairo. These National Focal Points on Small Arms were joined by international experts for a symposium titled “The road ahead after the United Nations PoA 2006 Review Conference’. IANSA Director Rebecca Peters gave an analysis of the RevCon and progress made in implementation of the UN Programme of Action. Other speakers included researchers, representatives of UN agencies, governments and international organisations.

The meeting came after publication of a report on small arms in Palestine by an IANSA member, the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group. ‘Small Arms, Light Weapons and Insecurity in Palestine’ discusses the militarisation of Palestinian society and the impact of small arms proliferation there.

Arms smuggling in the region has featured heavily in the media recently. US officials have said Syria and Iran are playing a 'negative role' in the region by facilitating arms smuggling across Syria's border into Lebanon. Media reports have also highlighted the use of tunnels by Hamas to smuggle high-tech arms from Egypt into Gaza.

More information on our Middle East and North Africa page