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Nagasaki marks 58th anniversary of atomic bombing
Tokyo, Aug 09: Urging people to remember the nuclear bombing that turned his city into a `hell on Earth,` Nagasaki`s Mayor marked the attack`s 58th anniversary today by warning that the world`s oldest -and newest- nuclear powers had dealt dangerous setbacks to arms-control efforts.
Tokyo, Aug 09: Urging people to remember the nuclear bombing that turned his city into a "hell on Earth," Nagasaki's Mayor marked the attack's 58th anniversary today by warning that the world's oldest -and newest- nuclear powers
had dealt dangerous setbacks to arms-control efforts.
"International agreements supporting nuclear disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation and the prohibition of all nuclear weapons testing now appear to be on the verge of collapse," Itcho Ito said at a ceremony attended by thousands of people -including survivors of the August 9, 1945 blast.
Ito referred to last year's controversial us review of its own nuclear policy, which included a proposal to develop a new kind of nuclear bomb to destroy underground targets.
He blamed North Korea, which allegedly told US officials in April that it had nuclear weapons.
The disclosure "has heightened international tensions," he said.
Ito's plea for a world free of nuclear weapons was less critical of Japan's main ally than his Hiroshima counterpart's speech earlier this week. That city's mayor accused Washington of worshipping nuclear weapons "as God".
Participants in today's ceremony observed a minute of silence while a bell tolled at 11:02 am- the moment the B-29 bomber bock's car dropped the bomb dubbed "Fat Man" on Nagasaki. About 70,000 people were killed in the explosion.
Nagasaki this year added 2,692 people to a list of those who have died from aftereffects, bringing the city's count of the total number of bomb victims to 131,885.
Bureau Report
Ito referred to last year's controversial us review of its own nuclear policy, which included a proposal to develop a new kind of nuclear bomb to destroy underground targets.
He blamed North Korea, which allegedly told US officials in April that it had nuclear weapons.
The disclosure "has heightened international tensions," he said.
Ito's plea for a world free of nuclear weapons was less critical of Japan's main ally than his Hiroshima counterpart's speech earlier this week. That city's mayor accused Washington of worshipping nuclear weapons "as God".
Participants in today's ceremony observed a minute of silence while a bell tolled at 11:02 am- the moment the B-29 bomber bock's car dropped the bomb dubbed "Fat Man" on Nagasaki. About 70,000 people were killed in the explosion.
Nagasaki this year added 2,692 people to a list of those who have died from aftereffects, bringing the city's count of the total number of bomb victims to 131,885.
Bureau Report