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Annan Urges U.N. Disarmament Conference to End Stalemate
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday warned the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament that it risks continuing its long-standing impasse unless enough political will is mustered to revitalize it (see GSN, Nov. 7, 2003). In his message to the conference’s opening session this year, Annan said the conference had made progress in achieving disarmament goals, such as witnessing the fourth anniversary of the Mine Ban Convention, but “recent events have inspired demands for new efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of arms control and disarmament agreements and to revitalize the multilateral disarmament machinery, including the Conference on Disarmament, ... the world’s sole multilateral disarmament negotiation body.” The incoming president of the conference, Amina Mohamed of Kenya, said the conference had seen “enormous developments” since the conference’s last session in September, citing Libya’s decision to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention. She also welcomed moves by North Korea and Iran to resolve their nuclear issues. She said there was a clear need, however, to discuss the direction of the conference and to build on what had so painstakingly been done. She said that although the conference was brimming with experience, consultations, ideas and proposals, it appeared unable to take advantage of what was available to it (U.N. release, Jan. 20).
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