A conference at the United Nations to review the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) ended Friday having accomplished "very little" amid what its President said were widely diverging views tackling nuclear arms and their spread.

Ambassador Sergio Duarte of Brazil, President of the 2005 NPT Review Conference told a press briefing that although the month long conference had accomplished very little in terms of results, agreements or final decisions, there had nevertheless been some progress "in the ways issues were discussed and the interest that delegations had shown in those discussions and.documents presented."

A spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement the UN chief "very much regrets" that the meeting closed without substantive agreement, noting that the parties "missed a vital opportunity to strengthen our collective security against the many nuclear threats to which all states and all peoples are vulnerable."

Excerpts from an article by Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Norwegian parliament.
Published in Dagsavisen (Oslo) 8 October 2004. Translated by Stine Rødmyr

With that I arrive at another important point concerning nuclear disarmament. If the original Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) do not resume disarming, more and more countries will argue exactly like the NWS do, i.e. that we also need nuclear weapons for our own security. This is the logic behind the nuclear weapons of the NWS. At the United Nations conferences in 1995 and 2000 (on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), the NWS admitted that this was the main problem. Therefore, they accepted that the main goal was total abolition of nuclear weapons.

Excerpts from an article by Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Norwegian parliament.
Published in Aftenposten 6 October 2004. Translated by Stine Rødmyr.

Another area where the Government can be prominent is nuclear disarmament. There is a great danger that the next step in the history of terrorism will be an increasing form of nuclear terror. Vast amounts of material that can be used to make nuclear bombs have gone astray, both highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium (Pu). In addition, low-level waste from nuclear power plants that can be used to make so-called dirty bombs is a great threat.

The non-proliferation regime under the United Nations is on the verge of breaking down, which will make it easier for terrorist groups to get hold of nuclear weapons. North Korea probably already has nuclear weapons. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia and Egypt will probably do so too.

We probably fight against the clock. But the situation can be brought under control if the old nuclear powers want to, and if USA and Europe shape a joint strategy, especially concerning Iran.