Tuesday, June 20, 2006
U.N. Group 'Sleepwalking' on Nuclear Issue
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament Wednesday to take action to stop the world from "sleepwalking" toward nuclear proliferation.
"If ever there was a time to break the prolonged impasse that has stymied your work ... it is now," Annan told the body, noting that it had failed to produce anything of substance since completing the nuclear weapons test-ban treaty nearly 10 years ago.
He said there were signs the conference was beginning to return to action, noting that China and Russia had proposed a treaty to ban arms in outer space and the United States has offered a plan for a treaty to ban the production of the nuclear materials needed to make atomic weapons.
"I hope that these steps represent the beginnings of a new period of productivity," Annan said. "It is long overdue."
The world faces a choice between two paths - reversing moves toward more atomic bombs and "a world in which a growing number of states feel obliged to arm themselves with nuclear weapons, and in which nonstate actors acquire the means to carry out nuclear terrorism," he said.
"The international community seems almost to be sleepwalking down that latter path - not by conscious choice, but rather through miscalculation, sterile debate and paralysis," Annan said.
He said the world was confronted by two specific challenges: North Korea and Iran. Both countries are feared to be moving toward developing nuclear weapons.
Annan urged North Korea to work with other nations toward verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
"I hoped the leaders of the DPRK (North Korea) will listen to what the world is telling them, and take great care not to make the situation on the peninsula even more complicated," Annan said.
He also urged Iran to enable the International Atomic Energy Agency "to assure the world that its nuclear activities are exclusively peaceful in nature."
That would help restore confidence in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty after two meetings that failed to strengthen it last year, Annan said.
The failure, he said, "sent a terrible signal - of waning respect for the treaty's authority, and of a dangerous rift on a leading threat to peace and prosperity."
By making progress toward related treaties, the conference can help reverse those trends, he said.
"I urge you to put your differences and well-rehearsed arguments behind you and rise to the task," Annan said. "The hour is late, the choice is clear."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament Wednesday to take action to stop the world from "sleepwalking" toward nuclear proliferation.
"If ever there was a time to break the prolonged impasse that has stymied your work ... it is now," Annan told the body, noting that it had failed to produce anything of substance since completing the nuclear weapons test-ban treaty nearly 10 years ago.
He said there were signs the conference was beginning to return to action, noting that China and Russia had proposed a treaty to ban arms in outer space and the United States has offered a plan for a treaty to ban the production of the nuclear materials needed to make atomic weapons.
"I hope that these steps represent the beginnings of a new period of productivity," Annan said. "It is long overdue."
The world faces a choice between two paths - reversing moves toward more atomic bombs and "a world in which a growing number of states feel obliged to arm themselves with nuclear weapons, and in which nonstate actors acquire the means to carry out nuclear terrorism," he said.
"The international community seems almost to be sleepwalking down that latter path - not by conscious choice, but rather through miscalculation, sterile debate and paralysis," Annan said.
He said the world was confronted by two specific challenges: North Korea and Iran. Both countries are feared to be moving toward developing nuclear weapons.
Annan urged North Korea to work with other nations toward verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
"I hoped the leaders of the DPRK (North Korea) will listen to what the world is telling them, and take great care not to make the situation on the peninsula even more complicated," Annan said.
He also urged Iran to enable the International Atomic Energy Agency "to assure the world that its nuclear activities are exclusively peaceful in nature."
That would help restore confidence in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty after two meetings that failed to strengthen it last year, Annan said.
The failure, he said, "sent a terrible signal - of waning respect for the treaty's authority, and of a dangerous rift on a leading threat to peace and prosperity."
By making progress toward related treaties, the conference can help reverse those trends, he said.
"I urge you to put your differences and well-rehearsed arguments behind you and rise to the task," Annan said. "The hour is late, the choice is clear."
