DATE=6/24/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-234447
TITLE=PAK / JAPAN ANTI-NUCLEAR (L) CQ
BYLINE=AYAZ GUL
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A SURVIVOR OF THE WORLD'S FIRST NUCLEAR BOMB ATTACK IS IN
ISLAMABAD WITH A MESSAGE OF PEACE, FOLLOWING RECENT NUCLEAR TESTS
BY INDIA AND PAKISTAN. YASUHIKO TAKETA, IS LEADING A GROUP OF
ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVISTS FROM JAPAN. AYAZ GUL HAS DETAILS FROM THE
PAKISTANI CAPITAL.
TEXT: YASUHIKO TAKETA WAS A 13-YEAR-OLD BOY WHEN THE FIRST
ATOMIC BOMB WAS DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA BY THE UNITED STATES NEAR
THE END OF WORLD-WAR TWO.
MR TAKETA AND TWO OTHER ACTIVISTS OF A JAPANESE ANTI-NUCLEAR
ORGANIZATION -- CALLED GENSUIKAN -- ARRIVED (LAST SUNDAY) IN
PAKISTAN FROM INDIA, WHERE THEY DENOUNCED NUCLEAR TESTINGS.
MR. TAKETA TELLS V-O-A HE WAS PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED WHEN HE HEARD
OF THE NUCLEAR TESTS IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN.
// TAKETA'S ACT FADING INTO TRANSLATOR'S VOICE //
I WAS DEEPLY DISTURBED, DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED BY HEARING
THE NEWS ABOUT THE TEST CONDUCTED BY INDIA BECAUSE I
THOUGHT THAT WE (THE WORLD) HAD MADE A STEP FORWARD
TOWARDS THE PEACE (EFFORTS) AROUND THE WORLD. BUT THESE
TESTS BY INDIA AND PAKISTAN WERE A STEP BACKWARD FROM
THE GLOBAL PEACE (EFFORTS). SO I WAS DEEPLY
DISAPPOINTED.
// END ACT //
MR. TAKETA SAYS AFTER VISITING INDIA AND PAKISTAN HE IS NOT
SURPRISED TO SEE PEOPLE CELEBRATING THE NUCLEAR TESTS BY THEIR
RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS BECAUSE HE SAYS THERE IS A LACK OF
UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHAT NUCLEAR WEAPONS CAN DO.
FEARS OF A NUCLEAR ARMS RACE IN SOUTH ASIA WERE RAISED LAST MONTH
WHEN NEW DELHI TESTED FIVE NUCLEAR DEVICES. PAKISTAN RESPONDED
WITH SIX NUCLEAR TESTS OF ITS OWN.
MASA TAKUBO, THE HEAD OF THE JAPANESE ANTI-NUCLEAR ORGANIZATION
"GENSUIKAN", SAYS THE RECENT NUCLEAR TESTS BY INDIA AND PAKISTAN
HAVE INCREASED CHANCES OF AN ACCIDENTAL NUCLEAR WAR BETWEEN THE
TWO DEVELOPING NATIONS.
// TAKUBO ACT //
THE UNITED STATES HAS DEVELOPED A SYSTEM WHERE FIELD
OFFICERS CANNOT USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON THEIR OWN. THEY
HAVE TO HAVE SOME SIGNALS COMING FROM THE CIVILIAN
GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW YOU TO LAUNCH NUCLEAR ATTACKS. BUT
YOU DO NOT HAVE THAT KIND OF SYSTEM IN INDIA OR
PAKISTAN, SO THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF NUCLEAR WAR BEING
STARTED BY A FIELD OFFICER, BY A ERRONEOUS DECISION, IN
A CHAOS. SO THERE IS A FAR GREATER RISK OF ACCIDENTAL
WAR HAPPENING BETWEEN THESE COUNTRIES.
// ACT //
THE ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVISTS FROM JAPAN SAY IF THE MAJOR POWERS OF
THE WORLD HAD TAKEN THE RIGHT STEPS TOWARDS ABOLISHING NUCLEAR
WEAPONS, INDIA AND PAKISTAN WOULD HAVE HAD NO EXCUSE TO TEST
NUCLEAR WEAPONS. (SIGNED)
NEB/AG/CB/RAE
24-Jun-98 8:13 AM EDT (1213 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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