NAM still confident on Non-Proliferation Treaty
NAM still confident on Non-Proliferation Treaty
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
BANDUNG (JP): Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
remained confident yesterday that they could have an impact on
the review of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), despite
claims by the United States that enough votes have been assembled
for an indefinite extension.
Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Amr Mousa expressed hope
that, even though the NPT conference had begun, there was still
much that could be done.
"I'm not pessimistic at all, as long as democratic principles
are being applied here," said Mousa, whose country opposes an
indefinite extension of the treaty.
The Egyptian foreign minister, along with over 60 other
ministers, is currently attending a three-day meeting of the NAM
Coordinating Bureau in Bandung, the provincial capital of West
Java, about 180-kilometers south of Jakarta.
NAM ministers' discussions on the NPT are scheduled to begin
today.
The signatories of the NPT began gathering in New York last
week for a month-long review regarding an extension of the NPT.
The U.S. is strongly campaigning for an indefinite extension
of the NPT and claims to possess the necessary votes for such an
extension.
Indonesia and a number of other NAM countries object to an
indefinite extension unless the nuclear weapon owning-countries,
such as the U.S., Britain and France, make a stronger commitment
to abolishing their own nuclear arsenals.
Egypt is opposing an indefinite extension because of Israel's
refusal to sign the treaty. Israel has for a long time been
suspected of possessing nuclear weapons.
"We're not here to try to influence other countries," he said.
"Our position is already stated. We understand that other
countries have their own opinion...I'll just see what we can do,"
Mousa said.
Experience
Separately, South African Foreign Minister Alfred Baphethuxele
Nzo said that his country "sees that international and regional
security" can be achieved only "by complete nuclear disarmament".
"The NPT provides us in Africa and the international community
with greater security than did the nuclear weapons which we have
destroyed," he said in a release made available to the press here
yesterday.
"I believe that the South African experience, that security is
provided by nuclear disarmament rather than by nuclear
proliferation, is a telling one," he said.
"We believe that with the necessary political will, we can
create a world free of nuclear weapons. We must not fail," he
said.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said the New York
meeting had not yet decided whether the question of an extension
would be decided by a vote or by consensus, nor the form an
extension would take, he said.
"So in that sense of course our meetings on the NPT are still
quite relevant among the Non-Aligned," Alatas said, adding that
"its not too late. Far from being too late it is a very timely
meeting for us to have a discussion".
Alatas said that the meetings currently going on in New York
were not solely about extending the NPT. Before an extension was
discussed the accomplishments of the treaty would be reviewed and
a mechanism for deciding the question of an extension would be
selected, Alatas said.
When asked how many countries supported an indefinite
extension, Alatas replied: "We don't know yet, we have never
really counted heads."
Jean McSorley of Greenpeace International, who also attended
yesterday's meeting, said that Greenpeace would like to see the
question decided by consensus.
She said that if consensus procedure was not acceptable, then
a secret ballot should be held. She said a secret ballot would
allow countries to vote freely, without fear of the "bigger"
countries.