Nations to address nuclear treaty issues (May 2-27 )

CHARLES J. HANLEY

Associated Press


UNITED NATIONS - <snip>

North Korea, Iran, a fear of nuclear terrorism, U.S. talk of new weapons - all give delegates from more than 180 treaty nations a host of issues to confront at a tense, troubled time internationally. A panel of U.N. experts warns of a "cascade" of nuclear proliferation if NPT controls erode further.

But diplomats haven't even settled on an agenda yet, a week before the May 2-27 meeting in New York, chiefly because of differences between Washington and non-nuclear states.

The Bush administration wants to keep the focus on Iran, which it contends is cheating on the treaty and secretly planning to build nuclear arms. <snip>

But many other governments want equal emphasis on speeding up what they see as the weapons states' slow pace toward nuclear disarmament, to which they are committed under the 1970 treaty. <snip>

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