NAM members opt for compromise on NPT

NAM members opt for compromise on NPT

BANDUNG (JP): The 112-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) chose
to compromise yesterday by adopting a consensus statement on the
extension of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), though
they did so without taking a stance on whether or not to extend
the treaty indefinitely.

In a seven-point document entitled Results of the Exchange of
Views on the Review and Extension of the NPT, the issue of
indefinite extension was only referred to in the last point,
which underlined the already existing options for extension.

"It is true that, in the end, we opted not to try for a common
position on the extension itself," said Indonesian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas here yesterday.

However, Alatas still stressed the significance of the
document. "What is important of this common stance is that we
have agreed on many other common aspects," he said.

The issue of extending the NPT dominated the three-day
Ministerial Meeting of the NAM Coordinating Bureau, which ended
yesterday in Bandung, West Java, 180-kilometers south of Jakarta.

The importance of the issue was amplified during the meeting
by the current NPT review conference, which is taking place in
New York to determine whether it should be extended indefinitely
or in fixed periods.

Yesterday morning, delegates indicated the existence of a
split between those in favor and opposed to an indefinite
extension.

A Benin delegate, Georges A. Whannou, acknowledged that the
great diversity among NAM members was behind the failure to find
a common stance on the issue of indefinite extension.

Indonesia, as NAM chairman, had indicated that it would like
NAM to adopt a common stance on the NPT. Indonesia has also been
vocal in expressing its objection to indefinite extension.

South African Foreign Minister Alfred B. Nzo, a supporter of
indefinite extension, explained his position: "Termination of the
treaty, whether this comes about by placing conditions on its
future existence or by extending it only for a fixed period, is
not an acceptable option."

Tunisia's Secretary of State to Foreign Affairs, Said Ben
Mustafa, also admitted that a number of difficulties were
encountered in the meeting.

Mustafa indicated, however, that the chairman of the meeting,
Ali Alatas, was able to steer the meeting away from too much
dissension by trying to incorporate different views on the
matter.

Stance

Minister Alatas said after the meeting that it was important
to note that NAM "succeeded in agreeing on a common stance on
various aspects of the review and extension."

The common stance referred to by Alatas includes the need for
a disarmament regime to meet the security needs of all countries.

These include a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the
elimination of nuclear weapons and the establishment of nuclear
weapon free zones.

The Ministerial Meeting also ended yesterday with the adoption
of a 110-paragraph Final Communique covering a variety of
international, economic and political issues.

Among the highlights of the Communique are the reforms of the
UN Security Council.

The meeting's Rapporteur General Sayed K. ElMassry of Egypt
reported to the assembly that the movement agreed to take a
common position on the issue of UN reforms, but decided to defer
adoption of the working paper for further consideration in the
NAM Working Group in New York.

ElMassry said that discussion on reforms, especially on veto
powers, should be examined as an integral part of a common
package which take into account the sovereign equality of states
and equitable distribution.

The ministers also adopted the working paper on the Solemn
Declaration of the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the
UN and the working paper on the Agenda for Development.

In his emotional closing speech, Alatas said: "Indeed, after
every meeting that we convene such as this, we grow more unified
in our approaches, more coordinated in our actions, and more
effective in our participation in international decision making."

He said the meeting had addressed many urgent international
political issues such as the "great tragedies of our time,
foremost of which are the carnage in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the
internecine armed struggle in Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi".

As the meeting closed, delegates yesterday were given an hour
to make it to a train bound for Jakarta, where President Soeharto
is to open a major exhibition of art from the Non-Aligned
Countries. (mds/swe)