Mr. President,

I would like to join my colleagues, in congratulating you on your election to the Presidency of this very important conference. My delegation is confident that with your extensive experience in the area of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, you will ably conduct and steer the deliberations of this meeting to a successful conclusion. I wish also to congratulate the other members of the Bureau, in whom my delegation has great confidence. My delegation notes with appreciation the personal work of the Under Secretary -General, Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, who has done a lot of work in preparing for his Conference, for his efforts. Our good friend H. E. Ambassador Wolfgang Hoffinan, the Executive Secretary, who is doing a good job in the Commission in Vienna.

Mr. President,

This meeting should have been held from 25th to 27th, September 2001, a date that marked the 5th anniversary of the opening on 24th September 1996, of the CTBT. However, the events of 11th September 2001, which violated all international norms, compelled us to postpone the meeting. My President has already expressed our country's condemnation of that Criminal act. However, permit me to reiterate my country's condemnation of all forms of terrorism regardless of who does it, and at whom it is targeted. The threat of international terrorism employing nuclear weapons has heightened since then. Therefore, the international community should act now in unison in order to deny the terrorists access to nuclear weapons as well as the related fissile materials.

Mr. President,

My country, a strong supporter of None-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) and the Nuclear Disarmament, is committed to a vision of a nuclear-weapon-free-world. It is, therefore, my country's view that multilateral disarmament, arms control and none-proliferation is viable. While we encourage the United States of America and the Russian Federation to negotiate in good faith to achieve strategic balance, all states have a stake in nuclear disarmament. We have a mandate from more the than 180 States parties to the None-Proliferation Treaty to follow up the unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon-states to fully eliminate their nuclear arsenals. We therefore need to build on that achievement in order to ensure universal adhesion.

Mr. President,

It is gratifying to note that we now have 161 States that have signed, and 87 States have already deposited the Instruments of ratification with the Secretary General. A further encouragement is that 31 of the 44 States listed in annex 2 of the Treaty, whose ratification is necessary for the CTBT to enter into force, have ratified. I wish to appeal to the remaining 13 States to do so without conditions.

 Mr. President,

Zambia is firmly committed to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. In this regard, our Cabinet will be approving the ratification of the CTBT soon. As I have stated before, our delay in ratifying should not question our firm commitment to the CTBT and general and complete disarmament, including nuclear disarmament.

As a Country that operates one of the seismic stations under the International Monitoring System, I wish to thank the Provisional Technical Secretariat for the Technical Assistance provided in upgrading our Stations.

Mr. President,

Five years have passed since the Treaty was opened for signatures, and this is our second conference. My delegation would like to request, under the CTBT Article XIV, that if the 13 of the 44 States do not ratify by next year this time, another conference should be called again to further enhance efforts to achieve the early into force of the CTBT. It is important that this Convention enters into force as soon as possible to assure global peace and stability.

I thank you, Mr. President
 
 

Sources

• http://www.un.org/webcast/ctbt/statements/zambiaE.htm