Another country in the Middle East has announced plans to move ahead with a nuclear power program. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak made the announcement in a nationally televised address.

Hosni Mubarak: “And I am speaking to you today in light of these studies and discussions, and I declare in front of you Egypt’s decision to begin a program to build a number of nuclear power plants to produce electricity.”

The Bush administration said the U.S. would not object to Egypt’s nuclear program as long as Cairo adhered to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines.