Weapons inspector fears new arms race

Monday, 27 August, 2007

by Sarah Smiles, Katharine Murphy and Anne Davies
The Age

FORMER top UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has warned that Australian uranium sales to India could help the country generate nuclear weapons.

In an interview with The Age, the veteran Swedish diplomat cautioned that the world is witnessing a dangerous phase of rearmament.

He said Australian uranium sales could free up India to use its own uranium to create weapons-grade material and heighten tensions in the region.

"It would make it easier for them to make bomb-grade material and this may increase tension vis-a-vis Pakistan and China," Dr Blix said.

Dr Blix, who is addressing a UN function in Melbourne tonight, led UN weapons inspections in Iraq in the lead-up to the 2003 war. After the invasion, he criticised the US and Britain for exaggerating the case for war around weapons of mass destruction.

Beyond Iraq, Dr Blix said the world had entered a dangerous period of rearmament, from the Russians developing new missiles to Britain's decision to extend its nuclear weapons program. "Despite the ending of the Cold War, which is now 17 years behind us, we are moving in the wrong direction," he said.

Dr Blix said Cold War thinking underpinned the United States' new nuclear deal with India, which he says is aimed at containing China.

While Dr Blix acknowledged the need for India to secure energy supplies, he said stricter safeguards were needed to prevent proliferation globally.

He said Australia had a "great reputation" in taking part in disarmament initiatives and had a "past to live up to".


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