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Obama to chair landmark UN nuclear summit
United Nations (AFP) Sept 20, 2009 US President Barack Obama chairs an unprecedented summit at the UN Security Council Thursday to rally world support for nuclear non-proliferation and advance nuclear disarmament. The summit -- the first time the 15-member council will be chaired by an American president -- comes as world powers step up efforts to curb Iran and North Korea's nuclear ambitions just as the United States and Russia have pledged to cut their own nuclear arsenals. Obama, who has set combating nuclear proliferation as a priority and is committed, unlike his predecessor George W. Bush, to pursue a multilateral course, will chair the meeting as his country holds the rotating presidency of the council this month. Prior to the summit, the US president will make his United Nations debut this week, attending a climate change summit hosted by UN chief Ban Ki-moon Tuesday. He will then step into the fray of high-stakes Middle East diplomacy by hosting a trilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to spur them to resume stalled peace talks. As the UN General Assembly kicks off its general debate on Wednesday, Obama will deliver his maiden speech to the 192-member body and will be immediately followed at the rostrum by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, who is visiting UN headquarters for the first time in his 40 years in power. Other speakers on that opening day include Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. But Thursday's nuclear proliferation summit will be a high point of this week's diplomatic agenda, with US officials stressing its aim is to reinvigorate the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which will be the subject of a key review conference next year. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Obama would use the meeting to "emphasize the importance of strengthening the international nuclear non-proliferation regime" and to stress the role the Security Council must play in enforcing compliance with non-proliferation obligations. Council members are expected to adopt a US-drafted resolution that calls on states that have signed the NPT "to comply fully with all their obligations." The text further urges them to cooperate so that "the 2010 NPT review conference can successfully strengthen the treaty and set realistic and achievable goals" in all its three pillars: non-proliferation, the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and disarmament. The draft makes no direct reference to Iran and North Korea but points to Security Council resolutions enjoining Tehran to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work and Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. And it calls on all non-signatory states to accede to the NPT "so as to achieve its universality at an early date" and to adhere to its terms in the meantime. The summit will come just a week before the five Security Council permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus Germany are due to take part in preliminary talks with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on October 1. Clinton warned Friday that Iran, which Washington and other Western nations fear is secretly developing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian nuclear program, would face further sanctions if it shies away from talks. In April, Obama called for a world free of nuclear weapons during a speech in Prague. The United States and Russia are seeking to agree on a successor to the landmark 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) before it expires on December 5. The US resolution also urges all nations to "refrain from conducting a nuclear test explosion" and to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in order to "bring the treaty into force." A separate high-level UN conference is scheduled for Friday to facilitate the entry into force of the CTBT. Drawn up in 1996, the CTBT has been signed by 181 countries and ratified by 149. But it needs to be ratified by nine others, including China and the United States, before coming into force. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
NATO chief calls for integrated US, Russian missile defencesBrussels (AFP) Sept 18, 2009 NATO reached out to Russia Friday in an effort to mend badly bruised ties, inviting Moscow to consider linking its missile system to those of the United States and the military alliance. In a landmark speech in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also encouraged Russia to undertake a joint review of the new security threats they face, as the basis of a new partnership ... read more |
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