Un Secretary General Kofi Annan Urges Anti-nuclear Effort
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on world leaders to reinforce their commitment to a treaty aimed at reducing the threat from nuclear arms.
"We all bear a heavy responsibility to build an efficient, effective, and equitable system that reduces nuclear threats," he told a UN meeting.
He also called upon former Cold War rivals Russia and the US to seriously reduce their current nuclear arsenals. Mr Annan was addressing a conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The treaty, signed in 1970, was designed to stop the spread of weapons, achieve nuclear disarmament and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
It is reviewed every five years, with delegates from all 187 signatory states participating in the month-long conference at the UN's headquarters in New York.
GLOBAL NUCLEAR POWERS
Signed the NPT: US, Russia, UK, France, China
Declared or known: India, Pakistan, Israel
Suspicions over: North Korea, Iran
Formerly had programmes: Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Libya, Romania, South Africa, Ukraine
