Secretary General of U.N.: “Work for a Nuclear Weapons Convention”
On October 24, 2008, PNA took part in a hugely important conference at the U.N. building in New York City.
As those who have long supported the idea of a Nuclear Weapons Convention as common sense, we are excited to report that this idea—of a treaty, or convention, that would outlaw nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth—has been endorsed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, at a conference that took place symbolically on U.N. Day, in New York at the world organization’s headquarters.
Here is the news, from the sponsors of the conference, which a PNA Delegation attended:
Breakthrough Recommendations on WMD Nonproliferation, Including New Proposal
from U.N. Secretary-General
24-Oct-2008
<<Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged concrete steps toward nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament at an East-West Institute event at U.N. headquarters that he praised as ‘timely and important.’ Mr. Ban specifically urged all nations to pursue an international convention on nuclear weapons (NWC) backed by a strong verification system.
<<The event, designed to begin the process of a new East-West consensus on weapons of mass destruction, also included Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Dr. Henry Kissinger, and leaders from the E.U., China, India, Japan, Pakistan, and the U.S.>>
PNA, and many of our members and associates, have long supported a mandatory treaty to end nuclear weapons. Yet, until recently such an approach had not been in the “mainstream” of the leaders needed to make it happen. Now, with the backing in principle not only of Ban Ki-moon, but also of the likes of Henry Kissinger of the U.S., Sergei Kislyak of Russia, and leaders from many other key countries in this process, the way opens for truly serious discussion on getting to Zero Nuclear Weapons.
In our work coming up, in Washington, D.C., in Geneva and New York, PNA will work hard to help make this approach a workable one, to finally bring this terrible scourge to an end—the sooner the better. One point that can be raised, other than “How do we establish the most useful and accurate regime for verification?”, is: Should we begin to look at what is a reasonable timetable to demolish the existing nukes, while we also inspect carefully to ensure that no new ones are built, or re-built?
We will report back promptly on the discussions that are now taking place all over the world, on some of the issues intrinsic to a Verification + Elimination regime.
Ed Aguilar is executive director of PNA
Comments: contact Ed, at ed.pna.director[at]gmail.com.
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