Addressing a panel of a General Assembly one-day thematic debate on "Disarmament and World Security" called for by Assembly President Ali Treki, Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi said "we believe that the success of the upcoming Conference will depend on the implementation of some of its goals and reaching some other goals, mainly the access to the Treaty by non-state parties".
"We believe that all Review Conference decisions, especially the 1995 decision on the Middle East, should be implemented. Israel should be called upon to access the NPT and place all its nuclear installations under the IAEA safeguards," he added.
He also indicated that "we have to stress during the Conference that the acquisition by nuclear states of nuclear weapons constitutes a threat to international peace and security. This is why it should prohibit the production of new nuclear weapons and should stress the importance of implementation and the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)".
Addressing the opening session, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community to focus together and without delay on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in order to ensure security and stability worldwide, including in the Middle East.
"A renewed focus on disarmament and non-proliferation will greatly benefit international security and stability. But we can only achieve our goals through engaging with each other in a spirit of trust, cooperation, solidarity and mutual reliance," Ban told the gathering.
"In particular," he added, "I urge States parties (to NPT) to agree to practical measures to achieve the full implementation of the Treaty pillars, as well as its universal application, and to implement the resolution on the Middle East," he stressed, in reference to Israel and the need to get rid of its nuclear arsenals.
He recalled that the "positive" atmosphere that prevailed during the nuclear security summit in Washington last week and the US-Russian signing of a new START Treaty in Prague earlier this month "exemplify a new engagement and understanding of the importance of nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferatioin".
