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Nonproliferation panel urges U.S. to adopt no first use of nuke arms

Nonproliferation panel urges U.S. to adopt no first use of nuke arms

(Source: iStockAnalyst )

Sunday, March 15, 2009

TOKYO, Mar. 15, 2009 (Kyodo News International) — A panel promoting nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation will urge the United States to take a leadership role in nuclear disarmament by developing a nuclear policy of ”no first use,” according to a draft of policy recommendations made available on Sunday.

The International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament will also urge the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and restore the U.S.-Russia strategic nuclear arms control process as part of its five-point proposals, according to the draft.

The commission seeks to achieve total abolition of nuclear weapons in three stages, with the five-point recommendations for Washington serving as its initial step, said Nobuyasu Abe, former U.N. undersecretary general for disarmament affairs, who is a member of the panel’s advisory board.

The commission, a joint initiative established by the Australian and Japanese governments, will complete the report by the end of this year as the panel seeks to promote nuclear disarmament ahead of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in spring 2010.

U.S. President Barack Obama has set a world without nuclear weapons as one of his policy goals.

No first use is a pledge not to use nuclear arms by a nuclear power unless the country or its allies are first attacked by an enemy with a nuclear weapon.

…………………… Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed to establish the commission in July last year, and its members have met last October and February this year since its launch.

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/311847

March 17, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, politics