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| Saturday, 24 April 2004 |
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Pakistan leads opposition on US terrorist arms ban UNITED NATIONS, Friday (Reuters) Pakistan led the opposition on Thursday to a key U.S.-drafted resolution banning the transfer of unconventional weapons to terrorists, saying the measure could be used to justify military action. Ambassador Munir Akram, whose country has been accused of proliferation, also said the U.N. Security Council was not the "most appropriate body" to oversee nonproliferation because its five permanent members all retained nuclear arms. At issue is a resolution, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, permanent council members, hashed out over the past five months. It would compel nations to adopt and enforce laws prohibiting a terrorist or "non-state actor" from getting weapons of mass destruction. No vote is expected until the end of April but the United States, which wants a unified council, may have to consider amendments to the draft that seeks to fill a gap in international nonproliferation treaties. A target of the resolution could be A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani scientist who smuggled nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya, and is now under house arrest. Siding with Pakistan were numerous nonaligned nations, including Malaysia and Indonesia, which participated in the debate. Among council members, Algeria raised several objections and Brazil proposed amendments so the resolution would not overlap with numerous nonproliferation treaties. Germany's U.N. ambassador, Gunter Pleuger, said the resolution should include references to disarmament as a whole and make sure that any enforcement action would be subject to another "specific decision" by the council. The draft invokes Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, a provision that makes the resolution mandatory for all 191 U.N. members. Chapter 7 also allows for the eventuality of sanctions and military force. |
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