News Service from House Harris

EUR: Ambitious Obama seeks nuclear-free world

PRAGUE, April 5 AFP - US President Barack Obama pledged on Sunday to lead a quest for a world purged of nuclear weapons, denouncing "fatalism" over proliferation and calling for North Korea to be punished for its rocket launch.

Warning the prospect of a terrorist with a nuclear device was the "most immediate and extreme threat to global security", Obama announced an initiative to cut stockpiles, curtail testing and secure loose nuclear material.

"As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act," Obama said in a keynote speech in Prague. "We cannot succeed in this endeavour alone, but we can lead it.

"So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment and desire to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," he said in a warmly received speech to 30,000 people at picturesque Prague Castle.

Obama, in town for a European Union-US summit, said he wanted an immediate end to nuclear tests, confirmed he would seek Senate approval of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and would hold a global summit on nuclear security within the next year.

"I am not naive. This goal (of a nuclear-free world) will not be reached quickly, perhaps not in my lifetime," he added, branding nuclear weapons stockpiles as the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War.

Doing nothing to stop the spread of nuclear weapons would be to cede to a "deadly adversary" of fatalism, he warned.

"One nuclear weapon exploded in one city - be it New York or Moscow, Islamabad or Mumbai, Tokyo or Tel Aviv, Paris or Prague - could kill hundreds of thousands of people," he said.

Obama, who was woken by his press secretary Robert Gibbs at 4.30am to be told of North Korea's rocket launch over Japan, said Pyongyang must pay a price and called for a strong international response at an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting.

"This provocation underscores the need for action - not just this afternoon at the UN Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons," Obama said.

"Rules must be binding, violations must be punished, words must mean something."

Obama said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN ambassador Susan Rice had reached out to US friends and allies to coordinate ahead of the Security Council meeting. He also spoke to top military brass.

The US president also vowed to move forward with a controversial plan to base a missile defence shield in central Europe which has upset Moscow, saying the threat posed by Iran remained real.

"Let me be clear: Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, not just to the United States, but to Iran's neighbours and our allies," Obama said.

"The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defence against these missiles. As long as the threat from Iran persists, we intend to go forward with a missile defence system that is cost-effective and proven."

The shield project was officially devised by former president George W. Bush to defend against long-range ballistic missiles possibly fired by "rogue states" such as Iran, but Moscow views it as a threat to Russian security.

Later, Obama headed to the EU-US summit and an area of contention arose between him and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, who got along famously during the US president's swing through Europe.

Hours before flying off to Ankara, Obama gave his backing to mainly Muslim Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

Its accession to the bloc, which currently has 27 members, would be "an important signal" which would "firmly anchor" Turkey in Europe, Obama told EU leaders.

But Sarkozy said it was up to the EU to decide who gets to join.

"I have always been opposed to this entry and I remain opposed," he said.