ACRONYM NPT Update No. 7A service during the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference of the ACRONYM Consortium and Disarmament Times Indefinite Extension Not Indefinite Possession, Says Russia25 April 1995 The last nuclear-weapon state to speak in the general debate of the NPT Review and Extension Conference -- Russia -- added its voice to the call for indefinite and unconditional extension of the NPT, while three key Arab states said they were unable to support indefinite extension because of Israel's failure to accede to the NPT. Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev of Russia said the Treaty deserved indefinite extension, arguing it was fulfilling its role of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and creating "a favorable climate for a continuously broadening international cooperation in the use of the atom for peaceful purposes." He added, "Indefinite extension... is not a mandate for an indefinite possession by the nuclear powers of their nuclear arsenals" and committed Russia to work for the elimination of nuclear weapons, as a "final goal". While favoring a consensus decision on extension, Kozyrev said if it comes to a vote, "it can only be an open vote... It is each government's duty to openly and unequivocally state its position in its vote." Ambassador Wissam Al-Zahawi of Iraq focused on the "one state [in the Middle East] which has always refused to abide by the NPT." He said unless there is some kind of balance in the region a "secret or open arms race" could ensue. It was "not advisable for the Conference to ignore this liability. Either we have equity and balance or we attain the goal of eliminating the nuclear threat once and for all," he added. Libya's Ambassador Mohamed A.Azwai was even more direct. "My country can not agree to an extension of the Treaty unless Israel is also forced by the world [to accede to the Treaty] and unless a clear and accurate timetable is drawn up to dismantle all the nuclear weapons possessed by Israel." Muhammad Mamoun Kurdi, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Foreign Minister, also called on Israel to "quickly join the NPT" and stressed that the Middle East should be free of ALL weapons of mass destruction. He said, "The presence of dangerous loopholes in the supervision and safeguards of the IAEA... makes it necessary for our conference to deal with [the loopholes] in order to guarantee effective supervision over nuclear facilities." Ambassador Rex S. Horoi of the Solomon Islands joined with other Pacific island nations (including the Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea) in expressing concerns about the environmental and health effects of nuclear testing. He pointed out such worries caused his country to join in the request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of the use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict. Horoi also noted that three nuclear-weapon states (the U.S., the U.K. and France) still have not ratified the Protocols of the Treaty of Rarotonga. "What better occasion than now, in the weeks preceding the NPT extension decision, can there be for the remaining nuclear weapon states to ratify the Protocols to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free- Zone Treaty?" he asked. The Solomon Islands then stated its preference for indefinite and unconditional extension of the NPT, as did Argentina, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, the Maldives, the Philippines, and Turkey. Mali was the only country
on Monday to state a specific limited extension
preference: 15 to 20 years. Ambassador Nouhoum Samassekon
said states parties needed "more reassuring
guarantees." Mali also stressed the problems
connected with the disposal of nuclear waste material,
particularly in Africa, in order that the region not be
used as a nuclear dumping ground. Committees Main Committees II (safeguards) and III (non-military uses) met on Monday and broadly covered the same themes of agreeing on the need for strengthening IAEA safeguards and disagreeing over the role of export control regimes. This update was written by Beryl Bernay and Jim Wurst.
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