U.N. Leader Warns of Nuclear Proliferation

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday said the world is threatened by a “cascade” of nuclear proliferation and criticized world leaders for not doing more to stop the spread of atomic weapons, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 6, 2005).

“Can there be any threat more alarming, in today's world, than that of a nuclear or biological weapon falling into the hands of terrorists, or being used by a state as a result of some terrible misunderstanding or miscalculation?” Annan said in a speech in London. “For 35 years the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has been remarkably successful in protecting mankind from this danger. But now it faces a very serious challenge.”

“When we step back from the headlines, it should be clear that we cannot continue to lurch from crisis to crisis, until the regime is buried beneath a cascade of nuclear proliferation,” Annan said. “Twice last year governments had the chance to strengthen the foundations of the NPT regime, by agreeing on more robust IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspections; incentives and guarantees for countries to forgo the enrichment and reprocessing of fissile materials; and energetic steps to meet disarmament commitments.”

“Both times, they failed. We cannot afford any more such squandered chances,” he said (Agence France-Presse/IranMania.com, Jan. 31).

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