"UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has reiterated his call to world leaders to revisit the issue of nuclear non-proliferation following the failure of a conference to adopt new measures to stem the spread of nuclear weapons." Read more...
"The voice was soft, calm, familiar. But the scenario Kofi Annan sketched out was chilling.
A nuclear bomb goes off in a great city. Chaos ensues, and a frightened world asks, "Was this an act of terrorism? Was it an act of aggression by a state? Was it an accident?"
Tens or hundreds of thousands would be dead, the U.N. chief said, and questions, implications and dread would consume world leaders. Treaties might collapse, trade and economies totter, human rights and freedoms come under threat. And statesmen would ask: "How did it come to this?"
It was Monday's arresting opening to a monthlong conference reviewing the workings of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, at a moment of rising nuclear tensions in the world, on a day when speakers called for concessions from many sides - Iran, North Korea, America, Russia - to move toward a world free of the nuclear threat." More...
"The United Nations General Assembly has approved a global treaty aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism. The treaty obliges governments to punish those who possess or threaten to use nuclear material." Full Story
From the Washington Post: "[State Department spokesman Adam] Ereli said, the United States appreciates Annan's effort to change the institution and to tackle a range of politically sensitive development and security issues. He said Annan also provided a "positive emphasis on the importance of promoting freedom and respect for human rights."
Delegates from the developing world voiced concern that Annan's proposals -- particularly his call for an anti-terrorism convention before the end of next year -- go too far in accommodating the interests of the United States and other powerful countries.
Annan will travel Monday night to Algiers to try to generate support for his ideas at an Arab League summit. But Arab leaders are expected to object to his proposal that the treaty define terrorism as any act that is "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or noncombatants" to intimidate a community, government or international organization."
"Terrorists must be denied the means to carry out a devastating nuclear attack, the UN secretary general has told an anti-terror summit in Madrid.
Kofi Annan was setting out a global strategy to fight terrorism which calls for preventive and deterrent measures - without sacrificing human rights. Mr Annan said the time had come to outlaw terrorism in all its forms. The summit comes nearly a year after the 11 March bomb attacks on Madrid trains which left 191 dead.
About 400 international experts and academics have spent three days discussing ways to combat terrorism while maintaining democracy." Full article...
Text of Secretary-General Annan's Speech (PDF)
"Resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is key to any hope of curtailing global outbursts of violence, panelists at a summit on democracy, terrorism and security said Wednesday.... U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was due to arrive and meet with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Wednesday evening ahead of his presentation of a special U.N. report on terrorism at the conference Thursday." Read more...
"For six decades disarmament has been a key item on the UN agenda but "this year is also one in which we must think ahead, and help plant the seeds of long-term global security," [Kofi Annan] said, adding that next month he will put before Member States the most far-reaching international security reform in the life of the UN, based on the proposals from the 16-member High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change." Read More...