Plea for conference on nuke-free Mideast
UNITED NATIONS - The Nonaligned Movement, representing over 100 developing countries, urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United States, Britain and Russia on Monday to convene a long-delayed international conference to promote a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa made the appeal on behalf of NAM members of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty at the opening of the third and final preparatory conference for next year's review of the landmark 1970 agreement aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear arms.
He reiterated NAM's demand that Israel, the only country in the region that has not joined the NPT, "renounce possession of nuclear weapons" and join the treaty without delay. (AP)
