DATE=5/30/98 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-233067 TITLE=PAKISTAN / MIDDLE EAST REACT (L ONLY) BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB DATELINE=CAIRO CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: OFFICIAL REACTION TO PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR TESTS HAS BEEN RESTRAINED IN THE MIDDLE EAST, BUT COMMENTARY IN THE NEWS MEDIA HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE AND WIDE RANGING. CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB HAS A SAMPLE OF THE RESPONSE FROM THE REGION IN THIS REPORT FROM OUR MIDDLE EAST BUREAU IN CAIRO. TEXT: ONE OF THE FIRST OFFICIAL RESPONSES TO PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR TESTS CAME FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE, ESMAT ABDEL MEGUID, WHO CALLED THE TESTS A DANGEROUS STEP. HE SAID THEY UNDERMINE STABILITY AND ENCOURAGE A REGIONAL ARMS RACE. A SPOKESMAN FOR THE FOREIGN MINISTRY OF IRAN ECHOED THE SENTIMENT, SAYING THE TESTS COULD HAVE A DESTRUCTIVE IMPACT ON WORLD SECURITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT. THE IRANIAN OFFICIAL BLAMED THE SITUATION ON THE ABSENCE OF AN ALL-INCLUSIVE NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT PROGRAM. EGYPT'S FOREIGN MINISTER AMR MOUSSA WAS MORE BLUNT, SAYING THAT WITH PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR TESTS, THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY WAS, IN HIS WORDS, GONE WITH THE WIND. AND HE URGED ALL NATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, IN PARTICULAR ISRAEL, TO SIGN THE TREATY. EDITORIAL COMMENT IN THE REGION ALSO FOCUSED ON THE FACT THAT MOST GOVERNMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST HAVE SIGNED THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY, WHILE ISRAEL HAS NOT. MANY PUBLISHED UNCONFIRMED NEWS REPORTS THAT ISRAEL HAS AT LEAST ONE HUNDRED NUCLEAR WARHEADS. AS A RESULT, SOME, LIKE QATAR'S AL-RAYA NEWSPAPER, CALLED THE PAKISTANI TESTS A COURAGEOUS MOVE BY A MUSLIM COUNTRY TO MAINTAIN SOME KIND OF STRATEGIC BALANCE WITH ISRAEL. THE AL-KHALEEJ NEWSPAPER OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, SAID ARAB NATIONS HAD FAILED TO KEEP PACE WITH ISRAEL MILITARILY AND IT HOPED THE TESTS WOULD LEAD TO A STRATEGIC BALANCE WHICH WOULD BOLSTER MIDDLE EAST PEACE EFFORTS. MANY NEWSPAPERS, LIKE SAUDI ARABIA'S AL-BILAD, EXPRESSED FEARS THAT THE TESTS BY PAKISTAN AND INDIA, WILL RAISE TENSIONS IN THE REGION, AND, LIKE RIYAHD'S AL-MEDINA NEWSPAPER, SAID THEY MIGHT PRESS ISRAEL TO DEVELOP A NUCLEAR BOMB. A NUMBER OF OUTLETS, LIKE EGYPT'S AL-AHRAM NEWSPAPER AND LIBYA'S JANA NEWS AGENCY, CRITICIZED THE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST PAKISTAN AND INDIA ANNOUNCED BY SEVERAL WESTERN GOVERNMENTS. THEY SAID IT WAS IRONIC THESE SANCTIONS CAME FROM GOVERNMENTS WHICH THEMSELVES CONTINUE TO STOCKPILE HUNDREDS OF NUCLEAR WARHEADS. JORDAN'S AL DUSTOUR NEWSPAPER EXPRESSED THE CONCERN OF MANY, HOWEVER, SAYING THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THE PAKISTANI AND INDIAN NUCLEAR TESTS COULD EVENTUALLY REACH THE MIDDLE EAST. NEVERTHELESS, MANY EXPRESSED A SENSE OF PRIDE, AS SEEN IN THE FRONT PAGE HEADLINE OF THE LONDON-BASED, ARABIC LANGUAGE DAILY -- AL-HAYAT -- WHICH PROCLAIMED: PAKISTAN, THE SEVENTH NUCLEAR POWER IN THE WORLD, AND THE FIRST IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD. (SIGNED) NEB/SB/DW 30-May-98 1:50 PM EDT (1750 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .