|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Leaders Sign Nuclear Terrorism Treaty
World leaders at a U.N. summit in New York yesterday signed a treaty outlawing possession and trade of nuclear-weapon or dirty-bomb materials by nonstate actors, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 14). Fifty leaders were expected to sign the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism by the end of the day today, according to AP. Twenty-two member states must ratify the treaty for it to take effect. The treaty would make illegal the possession of radioactive material or weapons with the intent to cause death, injury or damage to property or the environment. Damaging a nuclear plant, threatening to use radioactive material or devices or unlawfully demanding radioactive material would also be made a crime. The treaty would only apply to crimes that include activities that cross national borders, AP reported. However, member states would be required to pass national legislation outlawing the acts designated in the pact (Kim Gamel, Associated Press/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Sept. 14). U.S. President George W. Bush and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan addressed terrorism in summit speeches yesterday, Knight Ridder reported. “We know that this war will not be won by force of arms alone. We must defeat the terrorists on the battlefield, and we must also defeat them in the battle of ideas,” Bush said. “We must change the conditions that allow terrorists to flourish and recruit.” “Terrorism constitutes a direct attack on the values that the United Nations stands for,” Annan said. “We must be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism.” In addition, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution yesterday calling on countries to make inciting terrorism illegal. Annan expressed frustration, however, that the summit did not address nuclear nonproliferation. “We have allowed posturing to get in the way of results. This is inexcusable,” he said (Hutcheson/Strobel, Knight Ridder/Yahoo!News, Sept. 15).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
