Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=02/19/04

TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=BUSH ON NON-PROLIFERATON

NUMBER=6-130264

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTRO: President Bush's speech on ways to halt the spread of nuclear proliferation is continuing to draw comment in the foreign press, as we learn now from V-O-A's ___________ who joins us with a sampling in this week's World Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: The president's speech at the National War College [2-11] is drawing a somewhat skeptical response in some quarters.

In Russia, which holds the world's second-largest nuclear arsenal, the army's daily Krasnaya Zvezda from Moscow notes that while nuclear proliferation is a pressing issue .

VOICE: ... it can't be solved as suggested by Washington, especially because its claim to the role of world referee impels some countries to try to build their own nuclear weapons. North Korea is a case in point.

TEXT: Japan's huge Asahi daily from Tokyo observes:

VOICE: Mr. Bush's proposal is meaningful in calling attention to the present situation, but it is fraught with difficulties and problems. The U-S does not have much persuasive power . given ... its refusal to sign the NPT [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.]

TEXT: But in the Middle East, Israel's English-language Jerusalem Post counters critics who say:

VOICE: . that for non-proliferation to work, the U-S (or Israel) should disarm as well. Free nations, however, cannot disarm in a world in which rogue nations remain unshackled by ineffective agreements. The test of the non-proliferation regime must always be whether it fetters rogue states, so that free and peaceful nations will be able . to disarm . safely.

TEXT: On the subcontinent, the Times of India, writing from New Delhi, suggests:

VOICE: President . Bush's seven-point proposals to counter the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction have not set the Potomac on fire. This was a public relations exercise to advertise the success of . U-S and . U-K . intelligence operations . in breaking up the international nuclear smuggling network headed by A-Q Khan (in Pakistan).

TEXT: And from Pakistan, Karachi's Urdu-language Islam suggests:

VOICE: [The] I-A-E-A [International Atomic Energy Agency] has disclosed that the U-S is also involved in the nuclear black marketing and American companies have provided nuclear equipment to many countries including Iran. . The U-S . also . has . a visible role in making Israel an undeclared nuclear power.

TEXT: The Ottawa Sun, from Canada's capital notes dryly:

VOICE: Last week, [Mr. Bush warned of nuclear proliferation and called for a worldwide ban on . trade [in] nuclear material. This when U-S ally Pakistan has been exposed as a major proliferators, Israel is covertly helping build India's nuclear capabilities and the U-S plans to deploy a new generation of nuclear weapons designed to attack Third World targets.

TEXT: With those words from Canada's Ottawa Sun, we conclude this sampling of foreign reaction to President Bush's speech on the dangers of nuclear proliferation.

NEB/ANG/KL