Zone intended to avoid threat of nuclear war

Press, 29 August 1984, Page 2

Zone intended to avoid threat of nuclear war

By

KEN COATES

in Funafuti

The object of making a nuclear-free zone in the South Pacific was to express united opposition to a nuclear arms race “running out of control,” said the Prime Minister, Mr Lange. Mr Lange said that the proposal, resolved unanimously on Sunday by 13 Pacific leaders at the South Pacific Forum, would help keep the area “free from

the threat of nuclear weapons, and thus the threat of nuclear war.” It would also help put pressure on the French to stop nuclear testing at Mururoa, he said. The Australian Prime Minister, Mr Hawke, the Forum spokesman, said a sense of urgency had been agreed on, because international endeavours had deteriorated to the point where forums for reduction in nuclear

arms had broken down. “It is all the more important for us to put to the world our views on this issue,” he said. A task force will be set up to define the area of the zone and other details so that a draft treaty can be presented to next year’s forum in Rarotonga. The task force, which Australia and New Zealand will help to fund, will be based in Suva, Fiji.