Kuwait, 8 UNSC members call for urgent session

Kuwait’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Sadiq Marafi

VIENNA: Kuwait's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Sadiq Marafi said yesterday that Kuwait is keen on participating in the review sessions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). This came in a statement to KUNA by Ambassador Marafi, who headed the Kuwaiti delegation to the 41st meeting of Senior Arab Officials in charge of Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction Committee held last Thursday in Cairo.

He added that Kuwait has always sought to support common Arab position in this issue, stressing that the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East is an urgent requirement. The Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the NPT is scheduled to hold its second session from April 23 to May 4, 2018 at the UN Office in Geneva. This will be the second of three planned sessions that will be held prior to the 2020 Review Conference.

The NPT entered into force in 1970 and was extended indefinitely in 1995. The Treaty is regarded as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and an essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament. It was designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, to further the goals of nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament, and to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Urgent session

In another development, Kuwait, France, the US, Britain, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland, Peru and Cote d'Iviore requested for an urgent UNSC session, the diplomats said, in the wake of bombardment against Eastern Ghouta in general and the town of Douma in specific. Kuwait joined the other UNSC members in calling for the urgent session out of its moral and humane responsibilities. Kuwait had condemned attacks against populated areas in Eastern Ghouta and Douma using rockets and barrel bombs, which killed and injured scores of civilians. The foreign ministry expressed concern over the large number of victims and reported choking cases among civilians, calling on the international community to investigate the attacks in compliance with UNSC resolution 2118. - Agencies