Nonproliferation panel urges U.S. to adopt no first use of nuke arms+

TOKYO, March 15 Kyodo - A panel promoting nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation will urge the United States to take a leadership role in nuclear disarmament by developing a nuclear policy of ''no first use,'' according to a draft of policy recommendations made
available on Sunday.

The International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament will
also urge the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
and restore the U.S.-Russia strategic nuclear arms control process as part of
its five-point proposals, according to the draft.
The commission seeks to achieve total abolition of nuclear weapons in three
stages, with the five-point recommendations for Washington serving as its
initial step, said Nobuyasu Abe, former U.N. undersecretary general for
disarmament affairs, who is a member of the panel's advisory board.
The commission, a joint initiative established by the Australian and Japanese
governments, will complete the report by the end of this year as the panel
seeks to promote nuclear disarmament ahead of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty Review Conference in spring 2010.
U.S. President Barack Obama has set a world without nuclear weapons as one of
his policy goals.
No first use is a pledge not to use nuclear arms by a nuclear power unless the
country or its allies are first attacked by an enemy with a nuclear weapon.
Some Japanese government officials insist that the United States should not
abandon the no-first-use policy because it acts as a deterrent against possible
North Korean missile attacks.
Under the three-stage nuclear abolition goal, tactical nuclear weapons will be
reduced substantially and a pact to abolish fissile material will be reached in
the second stage.
In the final stage, an international regime will be established to verify
whether a nation is secretly developing nuclear weapons and impose punishments
on any violators.
The commission is co-chaired by former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans
and former Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, and its members include
former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry and former Mexican President
Ernesto Zedillo.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda agreed to establish the commission in July last year, and its members
have met last October and February this year since its launch.