"This latest step implementing President (George W.) Bush's policy of reducing reliance on nuclear weapons provides fresh evidence of the fulfillment by the United States of its obligations" under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, said US acting Assistant Secretary of State for non-proliferation Stephen Rademaker.

Rademaker told a disarmament committee of the UN General Assembly here that the deactivation of the Peacekeeper force was completed on September 19.

"Just three years ago, this missile force comprised 50 ICBMs, each capable of carrying 10 nuclear warheads," he said. "All now have been taken out of service, consistent with our obligations under the Moscow Treaty of 2002."

Under the 2002 treaty, Washington and Moscow agreed to cut and limit strategic nuclear warheads so that by December 31, 2012 the aggregate number of such warheads does not exceed 1,700-2,200 for each party.

Each side was to determine for itself the makeup and structure of its strategic offensive arms, based on the established aggregate limit for the number of such warheads.

Rademaker said empty Peacekeeper silos would remain accountable under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed by the two countries in 1991 and would be subject to inspection.

The issue of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation was one of the major disappointments at the summit of world leaders here last month. It did not even figure in the summit's document on wide-ranging UN reforms as UN member states failed to find common ground for the second time since May, when a review conference on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty collapsed.

Nuclear states have sought to focus on non-proliferation while the nuclear have-nots are pressing for disarmament and are accusing the big powers, particularly the United States, of failing to meet their disarmament obligations.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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