ID :
490095
Thu, 04/26/2018 - 17:13
Auther :

Qatar Confirms Elimination of Nuclear Weapons As Only Guarantee Against Their Use

Geneva, April 26 (QNA) - The State of Qatar said its hopes that the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference would completely eliminate nuclear weapons as a guarantee against the use or threat of their use. Speaking during second session of the preparatory committee of the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, HE Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al-Thani, the State of Qatar's ambassador to Republic of Austria and permanent envoy to the U.N. organizations in Vienna, said that the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted by 122 states, is a positive step that complies with the directives of the State of Qatar, which calls for prohibiting weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. HE the ambassador said the current global situation has become extremely dangerous due to the worsening international and regional crises as some countries strongly believe in the role of nuclear weapons in military and security doctrines, which increases the likelihood of a catastrophic nuclear accident amidst this global tension. HE Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al-Thani added that these negative developments call for adopting multilateral international diplomatic steps and initiatives to ease the tension and restore confidence in the joint global work to achieve international peace and safety, noting that nuclear disarmament and arms control remain the best means to achieve that goal. Despite signing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 50 years ago, HE the ambassador said, the world remains far from achieving a tangible development in the three pillars of the treaty. He explained that the reason is the discriminatory nature of the treaty, where nuclear weapons have been recently developed in many nuclear states rather than completely eliminated, which urged the global community to reject these weapons and warn against their dangers to humanity. HE Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al-Thani said this was made clear at the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, which was held for the first time in Oslo in 2013. The conference has been held annually ever since due to the consequences of these terrible weapons and the associated risks to humanity which has become a global concern, but at the same time has become a driving force in multilateral nuclear disarmament discussions, he added. HE the ambassador also presented the State of Qatar's efforts and contributions to the global efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons. The State of Qatar is one of the countries that adopted the Austrian pledge on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and is cooperating with all relevant stakeholders in all international efforts to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons and to establish a world free of such weapons, he said. As for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in the Middle East, he said that Qatar emphasizes the importance of developing peaceful nuclear energy programs in a deliberate manner, while complying to comprehensive safeguards measures of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to achieve the highest standards of safety, security and nuclear and radiological safety of the region's countries. HE Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al-Thani touched on the Qatari efforts to promote international peace and safety such as joining all treaties for the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological), internationally prohibited weapons, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its signing of the safeguards agreement and the Small Quantities Protocols with IAEA in 2009. The State of Qatar also ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), joined the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its ratification in 2014 and ratified the Nuclear Terrorism Convention. HE the ambassador highlighted the State of Qatar's tireless efforts to meet its obligations towards these treaties through the national legislations including issuing a law on accounting and controlling nuclear materials in order to tighten control over nuclear materials and how to deal with them as to stop it from reaching outlaws and using them to produce nuclear weapons. (QNA)

X