3 May 2005

NEW YORK - German foreign minister Joschka Fischer told the UN nuclear non- proliferation conference on Monday that the risk of nuclear war remains real because of the "ruthless violence of international terrorism", adding that the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) should play a central role in countering the threats of nuclear attacks.

The month-long NPT conference began on Monday after UN officials warned that threats of nuclear attacks have increased despite efforts at the conference five years ago to strengthen the 35-year-old treaty.

Secretary General Kofi Annan challenged governments to recognise the increasing dangers of nuclear weapons and take steps to disarm, including urging nuclear powers to reduce their warhead stocks. He said breaches of treaty have been piling up one on top of another.

He cited the need to stop proliferation in volatile regions of the world, said the spread of nuclear fuel cycle technology has become an unacceptable proliferation threat and added that the peaceful uses of nuclear technology must not be compromised.

The current nuclear arsenals constitute a "real danger", he said.

"I challenge you to accept that disarmament, non-proliferation and the right to peaceful uses [of nuclear power] are all vital," he told the 188 NPT signatories at the conference. "I challenge you to agree that they are all too important to be held hostage to the politics of the past, and I challenge you to acknowledge that they all impose responsibilities on all states."

Annan urged the NPT signers to take steps to strengthen the pact. One step is for nuclear powers and Cold War rivals to reduce their nuclear warheads to hundreds, not thousands, he said.

"These steps would materially reduce the risk of the use of nuclear weapons," Annan said, "but ultimately, the only way to guarantee that they will never be used is for our world to be free of such weapons."

The US representative at the conference said Washington is fully committed to meeting its NPT obligations, pointing to planned warhead reductions with Russia to 1,700 to 2,000, about a third of the number operational in 2000.

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