Nobel laureates, UN and NATO officials at Vatican nuclear meeting
(10 Nov 2017) The Vatican on Friday welcomed Nobel peace laureates, United Nations, NATO officials, and diplomats from countries with the bomb to a Vatican conference aimed at galvanising support for a global shift from the Cold War-era policy of nuclear deterrence to one of complete nuclear disarmament. Among those speaking at the two-day meeting were Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the advocacy group that won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for its instrumental role in getting the treaty passed. The conference comes amid mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula and heated rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang over the North's nuclear ambitions. But organiser Cardinal Peter Turkson told the audience Friday that the gathering was planned well before President Donald Trump began his Asia trip, where the Korean nuclear threat has been at the top of his agenda. Drawing laughs from the largely secular audience, Turkson said it was "divine providence" that the conference and US president's trip coincided. The conference is the first major international gathering since 122 countries approved the new UN treaty in July calling for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Pope Francis fully endorsed the new UN treaty, saying it filled an important legal gap in international law. However, none of the nuclear powers and no NATO members signed on, arguing that the treaty's lofty ideals were unrealistic given the rapid expansion of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. But Fihn said the treaty will have an impact even on those nuclear states that refused to participate, arguing that previous treaties banning chemical and biological weapons were a crucial first step in making such arsenals illegal, and put pressure on countries that had the weapons to disarm. UN high representative for disarmament affairs Izumi Nakamitsu added that disarmament would "create breathing space for trying to find political solutions." Meanwhile Francois Bugnion of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that if nuclear weapons were to be used, the effects would be devastating for humanity and future generations. Bugnion, an independent consultant in international humanitarian law and humanitarian action for the ICRC, also drew attention to the "real impossibility of providing adequate medical assistance to the victims" of nuclear warfare. At the conference, the United States was represented at the conference by its deputy ambassador to the Holy See, Luis Bono, while Russia sent an ambassador and a top nuclear expert, Alexei Arbatov. China and North Korea were invited, but organisers said they didn't attend. Neither has diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
