U.N. chief deplores Pakistan's nuclear tests

NEW YORK, May 28 Kyodo - U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, reacting to news about more nuclear tests in South Asia, said Thursday he ''deplored'' both Pakistan's and India's conducting of underground nuclear tests. Annan also urged Islamabad and New Delhi in a statement to cease nuclear testing and make a pledge against ''first use'' of nuclear weapons, saying their tests had further exacerbated the already tense relationship between the two countries. Pakistan conducted five tests Thursday in defiance of international pressure not to retaliate more than two weeks after India resumed testing after a 24-year hiatus with three tests May 11 and another two tests May 13. Annan also called on the two countries to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was endorsed by the U.N. General Assembly in September 1996 but will only come into force after it is ratified by 44 nations that include India and Pakistan. India has refused to sign the CTBT, saying it allows the five declared nuclear states -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to keep their nuclear weapons. Pakistan, in turn, has opposed signing unless India agrees to do so. Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council urgently called to convene an unofficial meeting in response to the Pakistani tests. The council is expected to approve a strongly worded statement condemning Pakistan similar to that adopted against India. In a statement May 14, all 15 members of the council ''strongly'' deplored India's actions while also urging ''states to exercise maximum restraint'' to preserve peace in South Asia, an implicit reference to Pakistan.