Pakistan Peace coalition statement
December 24, 2003

STATEMENT ON ANTI-WMD DECISIONS BY IRAN AND LIBYA

Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) welcomes the recent decisions by Iran and Libya to abandon their quests for weapons of mass destruction, first by Iran by opening itself for very intrusive monitoring of its nuclear establishments, and then by Libya by abandoning any programmes of WMD that it may have had. However, these unilateral steps from Iran and Libya are likely to serve only a limited purpose, if no further progress is made towards global disarmament under article 6 of the NPT and towards further de-nuclearisation, especially of Israel, to enhance security and stability in the Middle East. Without Israelís joining in the moves towards making the Middle East weaponsfree zone, these developments will be perceived as Western powers having coerced these two countries to give up their nuclear option in order to make Israel supreme in the region. Next in line ought to be Pakistani and Indian nuclear weapons programmes. The existence of nuclear weapons in this region will always remain a source of great worry. The geography and the history have made sure that no other region of the world is as likely to see the use of nuclear weapons as South Asia. Now that there is a thaw in the relations between the two countries, this is the opportune moment to extend the improvement of relations to the level of declaring South Asia a nuclear weapons-free zone. In addition, the PPC understands well that the posture of the United States under the rule of the militant neo-conservatives is also a factor that stands in the way of global nuclear disarmament. PPC therefore stands shoulder to shoulder with all those forces in the world that struggle to ward off American imperialist designs.

MB Naqvi, President - PPC
Dr. A.H.Nayyar
Dr. Zaki Hassan
Dr. Tariq Sohail
Mr. Mohammad Tahseen
Ms. Sheema Kirmani
Ms. Sheen Farrukh
Mr. Aaijaz Ahmed
Ms. Sarah Siddiqui
Mr. Rahim Bux Azad
Mr. Aslam Khawaja
Ms. Nasreen Chandio (MPA)
Mr. Khalique Ibrahim Khalique
Ms. Noor Naz Aga
Mr. Mansoor Saeed
Hafiz Siddiq Memon
Mr. Karamat Ali
Dr. Aly Ercelawn
Dr. A. Aziz
Dr. M.A. Mahboob
Mr. B.M.Kutty
Mr. Irfan Mufti
Dr. Asad Sayeed
Mr. Khalid Ahmed
Ms. Sania Saeed
Mr. Shahid Shafat
Mr. Sohail Sangi
Mr. Usman Baloch
Mr. S. Akbar Zaidi
Mr. Noordin Sarki
Mr. Mirza Aly Azhar
Mr. Mushtaq Meerani