EGYPT, SYRIA, ROMANIA AND IRAN ADDRESS CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ON LANDMINES AND NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
Press Release
DCF/323
EGYPT, SYRIA, ROMANIA AND IRAN ADDRESS CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ON LANDMINES AND NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
19980205 (Reissued as received.)GENEVA, 5 February (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard statements from Egypt, Syria, Romania and Iran which raised issues related to anti-personnel landmines and nuclear disarmament.
The representative of Egypt urged the Conference to focus on the responsibility of States involved in the deployment of anti-personnel landmines in the territories of other States.
The representative of Syria noted that nuclear proliferation was going on because of gaping flaws in the international instruments on disarmament. He urged the Conference to achieve progress in reaching effective international arrangements to safeguard the non-nuclear States against the use, or the threat to use such weapons against them.
The representative of Iran expressed concern that nuclear weapons were unbridledly developed and upgraded. He expressed support for South Africa's proposal on the establishment of an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament.
A fissile material cut-off treaty should be the next logical approach in the process of nuclear disarmament, the representative of Romania urged.
The Conference admitted Jordan as an observer.
Statements
MOUNIR ZAHRAN (Egypt) reiterated the concerns and preoccupations which prevented Egypt from signing the Ottawa Convention on the total prohibition of anti-personnel landmines, namely the responsibility of States involved in the deployment of mines in the territories of other States and national defence and security concerns. Both the Ottawa Treaty and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons fell short of addressing those concerns.
He said that the Ottawa Treaty contained vague provisions on mine clearance but made no reference to the responsibility of States involved in the deployment of mines. He referred to the resolution adopted this January by the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) which "urges Governments that have planted mines in the territories of other countries to provide the latter with the required maps and identification of the minefields they planted and to cooperate in minefield clearance in the countries concerned so as to avoid further injuries and deaths of civilians".
That resolution, he said, was another clear confirmation of the responsibility of foreign Powers having planted landmines on the territories of other countries, including Egypt, to shoulder their responsibility in a more serious fashion by providing the countries concerned with necessary maps and information, as well as technical and financial resources for mine clearance. Egypt requested that that aspect of the question of landmines be taken fully in consideration in the consultations of the Conference on Disarmament.
TAHER AL-HUSSAMI (Syria) said that although the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was adopted 30 years ago, nuclear States had failed to take the necessary steps to carry out their obligations under the Treaty. The Conference on Disarmament revived and extended the duration of the Treaty in 1995 without any provision obliging the nuclear States to get rid of their arsenals within a defined deadline. The present international instruments contained dangerous gaping flaws which indicated bias, discrimination and denial of legitimate security concerns on the national, regional and international level.
He said that it was high time to establish an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament. Syria had been among the first States to adhere to the NPT. All the countries in the region had also acceded to it except for Israel, which had acquired nuclear arms without any deterrence. Today, it threatened the whole region with the most menacing modern weapons of mass destruction. Israel was the only nuclear State in the region and it aimed at preserving its nuclear-arms monopoly in order to continue to impose its hegemony and dictate its terms. The silence of the Conference on Disarmament on that was deafening. Syria welcomed any progress that the Conference could achieve in reaching effective international arrangements to safeguard the non-nuclear States against the use, or the threat to use such weapons against them.
PAVEL GRECU (Romania) said that his country's priorities in 1998 regarding the Conference on Disarmament were clear-cut. Romania expected the Conference to start negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty, and to take the necessary steps towards the universalization of the recently signed Ottawa Convention on the total prohibition of anti-personnel landmines. Romania shared the view that the cut-off convention should be the next logical
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approach in the on-going process of nuclear disarmament after the completion of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Romania regretted that negotiations on a cut-off treaty had not yet started by the Conference.
Concerning nuclear disarmament, he said that Romania considered the complete elimination of nuclear weapons was the supreme objective on the way to build a safer world for the generations to come. Romania welcomed the efforts by both the United States and the Russian Federation to dismantle strategic weapon delivery systems, and it was undeniable that the achievements so far were impressive.
He said that Romania would like to see anti-personnel landmines discussed within the current session of the Conference on Disarmament. The success of the Ottawa process should stimulate discussions on the issue of anti-personnel landmines within the Conference on Disarmament, which would provide a wider involvement, enabling a broader implementation of the final product. The role of the Ottawa process and the Conference on Disarmament with respect to landmines were complementary and not in conflict with each other.
He concluded by noting that Romania liked to see consensus emerging on the issue of transparency in armaments. The issue of conventional weapons had long been overshadowed in the Conference by nuclear issues. It was time to strike a more equitable balance. A "code of conduct" in conventional arms transfers deserved consideration, and Romania hoped that its proposals on that issue would be discussed.
ALI KHORRAM (Iran) said that his country was most concerned about the fact that nuclear weapons were developed and upgraded without any restriction. The recent, far-reaching changes in the world had necessitated the urgent need for genuine multilateral negotiations on nuclear disarmament. The Conference on Disarmament was the most appropriate forum for such an initiative in terms of expertise and mandate.
He said Iran welcomed the South African proposal on the establishment of an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament. It believed that the mandate and the functions of this committee should not only be confined to deliberation.
Iran was heartened by seeing that a compromise on the programme or work of the Conference was imminent, he said. The re-establishment of an ad hoc committee on negative security assurances would help the Conference start substantive work. An active and progressive Conference on Disarmament was not out of reach, provided that political will and commitment towards real disarmament were available. Time, however, was of the essence.
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