Global Security Newswire

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday lauded the Security Council's decision last week to renew for 10 years the mandate of a panel charged with overseeing U.N. member states' implementation of an anti-WMD measure (see GSN, April 21).

"Concerted international cooperation and action remains vital to the prevention of proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery to terrorists and other nonstate actors," according to a statement from the secretary general's office.

Under the 2004 Security Council Resolution 1540, U.N. member states are obligated to put in place controls to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their modes of delivery.

In its decision last week, the 15-member Security Council also called on all 192 U.N. member countries that had not yet done so to submit declarations on their efforts to comply with Resolution 1540. The council also asked Ban to create a panel of eight experts to support the committee's efforts.

"The secretary general will continue to give priority to disarmament and nonproliferation issues and is ready to work actively with the Security Council to promote international efforts to achieve the objectives of Resolution 1540," Ban's office said (United Nations release, April 26).