Ban Ki-moon urges global nuclear disarmament

The UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged the world to get rid of nuclear weapons at a commemoration ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the US nuclear attack on Nagasaki – the second, and so far the last – bombing in the history of nuclear warfare.

“Nagasaki must be the last. We cannot allow any future use of nuclear weapons. Their humanitarian consequences are too great,” Ban Ki-moon’s message said as he addressed thousands through his representative at the Peace Memorial Ceremony.

“I wholeheartedly join you in sounding a global rallying cry: No more Nagasakis. No more Hiroshimas,” he added.

Demilitarization should be put “back on the agenda of international politics,” believes Ban Ki-moon. “This includes a reduction of military budgets, a moratorium on the development of new types of weapons and a prohibition on militarizing space.”

The last Soviet leader, and Noble Peace Price recipient, Mikhail Gorbachev, this week reminded the world that nuclear weapons can easily “wipe out the entirety of civilization”.

He stressed that “everyone will lose, including those now seeking to dominate the world.”

Source:World Bulletin