Annan urges US to ratify nuke treaty
( 2003-09-04 09:42) (Agencies)
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other diplomats appealed to the United States and other holdout nations Wednesday to ratify an international treaty banning nuclear weapons tests, saying the agreement would help the world achieve peace.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is considered a critical element in stopping the spread of nuclear weapons, since a testing ban makes developing such arms almost impossible.
"The entry into force of (the treaty) would be a victory for the cause of peace," Annan said in prepared remarks. "It cannot come too soon."
A dozen countries — including the United States — have declined to ratify the measure. U.S. senators who voted against the treaty in 1999 argued that ratifying it would have threatened national security by closing off U.S. options to test.
President Bush, who also opposed the treaty, has pledged to continue long-standing U.S. policy not to conduct nuclear tests. However, the administration is considering developing smaller-scale nuclear weapons.
The Clinton administration led negotiations to convert a testing moratorium into a permanent treaty in 1996, only to have the Senate reject it three years later.
The Bush administration did not send a representative to Wednesday's opening session of a conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
"I believe it's clear that from the direction of the Bush administration, they would be happy for the (test ban treaty) to go away," said Rose Gottemoeller, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"The question is: Can they take the political heat for killing the treaty, with everything else they have on their platter?"
The U.S. position jeopardizes the treaty itself. As one of 44 countries with nuclear power or research facilities listed in an annex to the treaty, the Americans must ratify the document or it will not take effect.
The other holdouts are China, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and Vietnam.
The meeting came at a time of worldwide concern over North Korea and Iran. North Korea says it plans to test a nuclear device as part of its weapons program, and the United States accuses Iran of wanting to develop nuclear arms.
"Our world can ill afford to fail, or even to be unduly delayed, in achieving a comprehensive nuclear test ban," Annan said. "Delay increases the risk that nuclear testing might resume, and it jeopardizes efforts to take further steps toward the goal of nuclear disarmament."
Japan issued a poignant appeal for action Wednesday.
"Since Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered the tragedy of atomic bombing, we Japanese people have a particularly strong desire for a ban on nuclear testing," Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said.
So far, 32 countries listed in the annex — including nuclear powers Britain, France and Russia — have accepted the treaty.
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