UN welcomes nuclear free Central Asia

United Nations, (Prensa Latina)

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed on Friday the coming into force of the nuclear free zone Treaty in Central Asia, signed by the five regional countries. The document completed the ratification process started on September 2006 after its approval by the six parties ”Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan- and became the first of its kind in the northern hemisphere.

Bank’s statement highlights the particular significance of the Treaty in a region that had nuclear armament in the past and also because it is the first document of its kind that requires the parties to negotiate with the International Atomic Energy Agency to have an additional protocol on safeguards in an 18-month period after its coming into force.

To secure an affective implementation of the document, scheduled to come into force tomorrow, the Secretary General urged members to discuss any relevant issue that may affect its operation.

In the light of the proximity of the Conference of Revision of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by its Parties, in 2010, Ban was confident of the coming into force of this zone in Central Asia and of progress in main issues leading to a nuclear-free world, the statement concluded.