Japanese and international delegates discuss anti-nuclear weapons movements: Nagasaki

About 30 overseas participants in the 2002 World Conference against A & H Bombs, including government representatives, attended an exchange meeting in Nagasaki City on August 8 with about 100 Japanese participants, mainly from Nagasaki and neighboring prefectures.

The World Conference ended its main session in Hiroshima on August 6 and moved its venue to Nagasaki.

Corazon Fabros from the Philippines pointed out that activities of U.S. forces in her country are linked to U.S. bases in Okinawa, and stressed that the anti-U.S. base movement in Japan is encouraging the movement in the Philippines. Japanese participants in response expressed their solidarity and determination that they will not allow Japan to be used as a stepping stone for U.S. wars.

Mahmoud Mubarak, Egyptian assistant foreign minister, called for increased pressure to be applied on nuclear weapons states to keep their promise to eliminate their nuclear arsenals. Malays's Disarmament Ambassador Rajimah Hussain emphasized that nuclear weapons are weapons of annihilation and are ineffective as a deterrent. Both representatives stressed the need for cooperation between NGOs and governments that are striving to get nuclear weapons abolished.

A delegate from the American Friends Service Committee said everytime he visits Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he feels ashamed of what the U.S. had done to Japan and what the present administration is now planning. He said he wants to unite with Japanese citizens who struggle against the pro-U.S. Koizumi Cabinet.

In an exchange meeting held separately for grassroots movements on the same day, participants from Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Indonesia joined Japanese participants in reporting on their activities. (end)