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Obama To Open Landmark Nuclear Summit

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  • Obama To Open Landmark Nuclear Summit

    OBAMA TO OPEN LANDMARK NUCLEAR SUMMIT

    Capital FM
    April 12 2010

    WASHINGTON, Apr 12 - President Barack Obama will Monday open an
    unprecedented nuclear security summit, warning that the atomic
    aspirations of groups like Al-Qaeda are the top security threat to
    the United States.

    Obama will welcome leaders from 46 other nations to a meeting aimed
    at safeguarding unsecured uranium and separated plutonium stockpiles
    and averting the nightmare scenario of extremist groups acquiring
    nuclear weapons.

    On the eve of the largest summit chaired by a US president in 65
    years, Obama on Sunday conjured up the horrific possibility of a
    nuclear detonation in New York City, London or Johannesburg.

    "The single biggest threat to US security, both short-term, medium-term
    and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization
    obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said on the eve of the two-day
    summit.

    "This is something that could change the security landscape of this
    country and around the world for years to come."

    "We know that organizations like Al-Qaeda are in the process of trying
    to secure a nuclear weapon -- a weapon of mass destruction that they
    have no compunction at using."

    As well as presiding over the summit, Obama will hold a string of
    bilateral meetings with world leaders.

    Key will be his encounter with Chinese President Hu Jintao Monday in
    talks likely to focus partly on US hopes that China will let its yuan
    currency find a market level, after a period of Sino-US tensions.

    Security blankets Washington as nuclear summit looms

    Despite the focus on extremist groups, two states, however, Iran and
    North Korea, which already has the bomb, will cast a shadow over the
    two-day summit which opens on Monday.

    Washington is leading an effort to toughen sanctions within weeks
    on Iran over its nuclear program, which the United States and allies
    say is aimed at producing weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

    The White House will seek concrete commitments from world leaders
    on securing stockpiles of separated plutonium and uranium, to ensure
    that they cannot be stolen, smuggled or sold to extremists.

    "The threat of nuclear war... has diminished. The threat of nuclear
    terrorism has increased," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told
    ABC News.

    To kick off his counter-proliferation drive, Obama met Kazakhstan's
    President Nursultan Nazerbayev and South African President Jacob Zuma.

    Kazakhstan handed over Soviet-era nuclear weapons after the end of
    the Cold War, but is a key player in Washington as it bills itself
    as the world's top exporter of uranium.

    South Africa gave up its nuclear weapons program in the 1990s, and
    US officials praised its example, saying its security had emerged
    enhanced.

    He also held talks with Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousuf
    Raza Gilani of nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.

    Obama, who last week signed a landmark disarmament treaty with Russia
    and laid out a new US nuclear strategy limiting how Washington could
    use atomic weapons, said he was confident that the summit would garner
    important progress.

    "I feel very good at this stage in the degree of commitment and sense
    of urgency that I've seen from the world leaders so far on this issue,"
    Obama said.

    "We think we can make enormous progress on this."

    US officials hope nations at the summit will agree a series of their
    own security steps for their own nuclear material, and help pay to
    put the stocks of less well-off countries under lock and key.

    They also expect some leaders to unveil specific actions, similar to
    Chile's decision to ship a stock of highly enriched uranium to the
    United States.

    The conference is also a precursor to the United Nations
    Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference next month, seen as another
    important moment in heading off a future nuclear arms race.

    The White House also announced that the US leader would have a meeting
    with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    The talks will occur just over a week after Turkey decided to return
    its ambassador to Washington after a row over moves in Congress to
    brand the World War I massacres of Armenians as genocide.

    Turkey is also seeking to revive stalled reconciliation efforts with
    Armenia. Obama may play a part in that effort, when he meets Armenian
    President Serzh Sarkisian in a separate meeting on Monday.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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