| Chugoku Shimbun Peace News | |
| Gensuikyo conference in Hiroshima discusses US policies and N. Korean nuclear weapons | '03/8/4 |
The 2003 World Conference of the Japan Council Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) opened on August 3 with an international conference at the Hiroshima Welfare Annuity Hall, Naka-ku, Hiroshima. Discussion focused on coming to grips with the new situation of nuclear weapons in the world, including the US prosecution of the War in Iraq and North Korea's increasing isolation over its nuclear weapons program.
The meeting was attended by 64 representatives from 23 nations and territories, and 13 people reported their activities on this first day. Terry Rockefeller, chairman of the Operations Committee and representative of September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group of family members bereaved by the terrorist attacks in the US, criticized the US attack on Iraq and its threatening of the world with nuclear weapons as "destructive diplomacy." She appealed for solidarity saying, "Because of fear and the lies told by the Bush administration, most Americans are easily silenced. It is a difficult time for peace activists. We need an unprecedented international effort." One after another, representatives called for international joint action to ban nuclear weapons in 2005, the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing. The international conference will continue until August 5. The Hiroshima Congress will open on the 6th, with the Nagasaki Congress to take place in Nagasaki August 7 to 9.
(Caption)Gensuikyo international conference discussing the world nuclear situation
    
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