Gensuikyo action for U.N. Disarmament Week starts

At the start of the United Nations Disarmament Week on October 24, the
Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) held a meeting on
October 24 in Tokyo to discuss ways to abolish nuclear weapons.

The meeting was attended by a senior Foreign Ministry official, a
Brazilian embassy official as one of the "New Agenda" coalition countries,
and local Gensuikyo representatives.

Gensuikyo General Secretary Takakusagi Hiroshi called on the Japanese
government's draft resolution to include proposals on negotiations for the
elimination of nuclear weapons to reflect increased opinions calling for
outlawing the use of weapons of mass destruction in relation to the
terrorist question.

Tokuro Furuya, Foreign Ministry Arms Control and Disarmament Division
deputy director, said that this year's government resolution does not
include a call for a time limit for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty (CTBT) to go into effect. The reason he gave was that a resolution
that would not be supported by nuclear weapon states would be meaningless.

Furuya's statement was rejected by some participants, who said that the
Japanese government should criticize those countries that do not agree with
the CTBT.

Gensuikyo representatives on October 24 and 25 visited foreign embassies
in Tokyo as well as the Japanese government, calling on them to make every
effort to get nuclear weapons eliminated. (end)