 Gensuikyo discusses nuclear weapons abolition with foreign ambassadors and Japan's government official The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on October 12 held a panel discussion in Tokyo on ways to help abolish nuclear weapons under the present international political situation. The panel was composed of the ambassadors of Egypt and Mexico to Japan, a Japanese government official, and an expert in international politics. Panelists were Tsuchida Yayoi of Japan Gensuikyo's international division, Egyptian Ambassador Hisham Mohamed Mostafa Badr, Mexican Ambassador Miguel Ruiz-Cabanas Izquierdo, Ogasawara Ichiro, director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Asai Motofumi, professor at Meiji Gakuin University. The Egyptian ambassador stressed that the international community must not allow certain counties to possess nuclear weapons and that all countries must comply with international law without any exception. The Mexican ambassador spoke about the importance of taking steps to ensure that nuclear weapons are abolished by banning the production of nuclear weapons while promoting efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and achieve nuclear disarmament. Tsuchida said that Japan Gensuikyo will concentrate its efforts to make next year's NPT Review Conference an opportunity to have nuclear weapons possessing countries fulfill the promise they made during the 2000 NPT Review Conference to abandon their nuclear weapons. Ogasawara stated that the government is calling on countries opposing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, including the United States and India, to support the CTBT in order to bring it into effect. Asai pointed out that driving the United States into the corner is the biggest key to achieving nuclear weapons abolition, and proposed that movements calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons be combined with efforts to block constitutional revision in Japan. (end) |