“The Review Conference snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.” said BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh, quoted in The Huffington Post.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evelyn-leopold/dispute-over-israeli-arms_b_592898.html
Programmes
NPT Review Conference ends with adoption of consensus Final Document
There was a rare and powerful burst of euphoria at the UN on the final day of the NPT Review Conference, when the representatives of about 180 states agreed on a final document without a vote.
British last-minute contribution to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference
The new British government\’s announcement today of a total limit of 225 nuclear warheads is to be welcomed as a next step in the transparency and disarmament process, said Paul Ingram, Executive Director of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC).
NPT Review Conference president moves towards the endgame
Day 17: The NPT Review Conference president, Libran Cabactulan, has moved towards the endgame by submitting a draft final document which contains both a treaty review and a forward-looking action plan covering all three pillars of the treaty (disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy).
Middle East nuclear weapons free zone subject of panel discussion at the NPT Review Conference
Anne Penketh, BASIC Program Director, backed Egypt's proposals for a Middle East international conference to work towards a Middle East nuclear weapons free zone at a side event on the margins of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
The May 21 event was hosted by Greenpeace whose Israeli representative, Sharon Dolev, described how she has been trying to raise awareness for nuclear disarmament in Israel, where discussion of that country's presumed nuclear arsenal of up to 200 weapons remains taboo.
Iran sanctions ‘holding up nuclear treaty negotiations’
The unveiling of the Iran sanctions resolution “has changed the atmosphere here”, noted Anne Penketh who is monitoring the view. The conference, she noted, “has been on a knife-edge from the get-go and I think it still is”.
Disarmament timeline could be deal-breaker at NPT Review Conference
Day 14: There is widespread dismay at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference where the latest draft on the treaty's disarmament pillar has excised all references to a timetable for the nuclear weapons states to disarm.
Russia rejects German proposal on tactical nuclear weapons
Day 13: Russia has rejected a proposal from Germany to include a call for the “irreversible reduction and elimination” of US and Russian tactical weapons in a draft action plan of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Treaty Conference.
The exchange took place during a closed-door session which was discussing the disarmament pillar of the NPT.