6 Nations Seek U.N. Resolution on Negotiations to Ban Nukes

Geneva — A group of six countries has submitted a draft U.N. General Assembly resolution urging the start of negotiations in 2017 to outlaw nuclear weapons, sources privy to the move said Wednesday.

The draft will be discussed at a meeting of the U.N. First Committee on disarmament and security issues, which will begin next week, the sources said, adding the six countries comprise Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa.

The United States has made it clear that it objects to any resolution calling for multilateral talks on the matter.

Japan, the world’s sole atom-bombed country, which is also under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, has yet to state its position.

The move on the resolution came after a U.N. working group on nuclear disarmament in August adopted a report recommending to the General Assembly that negotiations begin in 2017 to make nuclear weapons illegal.

The three-page draft voices deep concern about “the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons” and urges the start of a U.N. parley in 2017 “to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.”

The draft is expected to be put to a vote at the First Committee. If endorsed there, the draft will then be sent to the plenary session of the General Assembly to be convened in December.(PNA/Kyodo) FPV/PJN