ACRONYM NPT Update No. 5A service during the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference of the ACRONYM Consortium and Disarmament Times Israel's Nuclear Weapons Continue as Stumbling Block21 April 1995 Middle Eastern regional concerns and Israel's nuclear weapons programme were raised by several speakers, as Egypt and the Lebanon joined Jordan, Kuwait and Syria in refusing to endorse indefinite extension of the NPT without the accession of Israel. Switzerland and Sweden endorsed indefinite extension but argued for a timetable for further nuclear disarmament. As Myanmar opted for a rolling extension, Zimbabwe wanted extension linked to further progress. Other states which addressed the plenary included: Algeria, Sudan, Peru, Mongolia, Singapore, Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam, New Zealand, Denmark, Madagascar, Czech Republic and Cote d'Ivoire. Reiterating support for the objectives of the NPT, Egypt's Foreign Minister, Amre Moussa, argued that since the NPT 'is incapable of safeguarding [its] national security...Egypt.. cannot support the indefinite extension of the Treaty because the regional situation...remains volatile and... unsatisfactory.' Emphasising the importance of the review process, Moussa included suspension of the Conference 'for a reasonable period of time' among the options for consideration. During the fourth PrepCom, Egypt and Indonesia had expressed interest in suspending the Conference so that the extension decision could be taken after certain conditions had been met, an option backed by Syria on Wednesday. Switzerland and Sweden both backed indefinite unconditional extension, but demanded more action on implementation. Arguing that the time had come for all states to affirm their commitment to the complete elimination of weapons of mass destruction, Switzerland advocated rapid conclusion of a CTBT, a fissile cut-off by the year 2000, and a 'timetable for the progressive and substantial reduction of nuclear arsenals'. After stating that nuclear disarmament was a 'moral imperative' and that 'nuclear weapons must be abolished', Swedish Permanent Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs Jan Eliasson called for a 'specific time schedule for further nuclear disarmament'. In a break from the usual European stance, Sweden argued that the security assurances recently provided by the nuclear weapon states 'could form a basis for a negotiated multilateral treaty on negative security assurances and...be further developed into declarations of no- first-use of nuclear weapons.' Sweden also argued that existing stockpiles as well as a ban on future production should be covered in the fissile cut-off negotiations. Announcing for the first time Mozambique's support for indefinite extension, Vice Minister Frances Vitoria Velho Rodrigues listed measures on nuclear disarmament that must be dealt with as a highest priority. Myanmar also identified a series of measures the attainment of which would indicate significant progress towards implementation of the Treaty. Although acknowledging the NPT's successes, Myanmar advocated the third option of 'rolling fixed periods of credible length' in order to strengthen the review mechanisms of the Treaty. Ambassador Izhar Ibrahim of Indonesia gave a substantive statement on Tuesday (the text of which has only just been obtained). This argued that not only has the NPT failed to meet its objectives, but that 'the past quarter century [has] accentuated the inequalities inherent in the Treaty.' Advancing the view that 'indefinite extension would mean the permanent legitimization of nuclear weapons and the five privileged powers...' and that a single extension would mean the Treaty's expiry at the end of the period, Ibrahim supported the third option of fixed periods, linked to 'specific agreements leading to the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.' Ibrahim argued for the 1995 Review and Extension Conference to document a set of measures aimed at full implementation, including a CTBT, security assurances, greater assistance for nuclear energy and nuclear weapon free zones, and a 'ban on weapon usable fissionable materials' (going much further than the fissile cut-off under consideration, by seeking to include commercial as well as military stocks). Main Committee III (non-military uses) got started on Thursday. Among several substantive interventions made in Committee I (nuclear disarmament), South Africa pressed ahead with its proposal on adopting 'Principles for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament' for more concrete review and progress, offering to convene a working group to develop its proposal, including an intersessional Review Committee. NPT Updates will begin to report more substantively on the Committees as the debates get further underway (subject to access, which is unnecessarily restrictive at present). COMPLETE LIST OF COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
This update was written by Rebecca Johnson.
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