U.N. backs N-arms freeze

Press, 25 November 1982, Page 8

U.N. backs N-arms freeze

NZPA-Reuter New York Most of the world’s governments favour a nuclear arms freeze, which the United States opposes and the Soviet Union, says it supports. Delegates from more than 100 countries, or some twothirds of the world’s states, yesterday voted in favour of two freeze proposals — one applicable to all nuclear Powers, the other only to Washington and Moscow. They also approved two.

calls for a ban on nuclear test explosions. The proposal for a bi--lateral United States-Soviet freeze is almost identical to one which American voters recently passed in referendums held in eight states, the District of Columbia which includes Washington, and a number of cities and counties. It calls for a. halt to the production and deployment of all nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. Yesterday’s votes, in the

United Nations General Assembly’s main political committee, came one day after President Ronald Reagan announced plans for the deployment of intercontinental MX missiles.' United Nations officials said that the freeze votes were unlikely to exert much influence on the Reagan Administration’s nuclear arms policies, but were important as an expression of world opinion.

Both proposals were backed by the Soviet Union, its Warsaw Pact allies and a host of non-aligned countries ranging from Brazil and Indonesia to the small African States of Burundi and Rwanda. It was the first time United Nations members had. been asked to vote on a nuclear freeze, although the idea was a principal theme of. a speccial United Nations session on disarmament in June.