Hiroshima mayor says popular will be decisive for nuke-free world
Jan. 22, 2010
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said in Washington on Wednesday that the will of the people will be a decisive factor in realizing a nuclear-free world, as called for by U.S. President Barack Obama last year.
At a reception of the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2010, which opened in Washington for a four-day session, Akiba asked mayors from across the United States to join Hiroshima-based Mayors for Peace and to express their determination to abolish nuclear weapons by 2020.
Akiba heads Mayors for Peace, which groups 3,488 member cities from 134 countries and territories around the world. The grouping seeks the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In his speech at the reception, the mayor of the world's first atomic-bombed city said that Mayors for Peace is aiming to boost the number of member cities to 5,000 ahead of the 2010 review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty scheduled to be held May 3-28 in New York.
If the target is achieved, Mayors for Peace would represent 1 billion citizens around the world, Akiba said.
Akiba asked the participants at the U.S. Conference of Mayors to be leaders in helping to create a nuclear-free world.
Akiba is scheduled to meet with President Obama with other participants of the U.S. Conference of Mayors at the White House on Thursday.
The mayor of Hiroshima left Japan on Friday for a 10-day trip to Nicaragua and the United States.
In Nicaragua, Akiba met with President Daniel Ortega Saavedra to seek his help in promoting Mayors for Peace.
Akiba will return home on Sunday.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Jan. 21, 2010)
At a reception of the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2010, which opened in Washington for a four-day session, Akiba asked mayors from across the United States to join Hiroshima-based Mayors for Peace and to express their determination to abolish nuclear weapons by 2020.
Akiba heads Mayors for Peace, which groups 3,488 member cities from 134 countries and territories around the world. The grouping seeks the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In his speech at the reception, the mayor of the world's first atomic-bombed city said that Mayors for Peace is aiming to boost the number of member cities to 5,000 ahead of the 2010 review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty scheduled to be held May 3-28 in New York.
If the target is achieved, Mayors for Peace would represent 1 billion citizens around the world, Akiba said.
Akiba asked the participants at the U.S. Conference of Mayors to be leaders in helping to create a nuclear-free world.
Akiba is scheduled to meet with President Obama with other participants of the U.S. Conference of Mayors at the White House on Thursday.
The mayor of Hiroshima left Japan on Friday for a 10-day trip to Nicaragua and the United States.
In Nicaragua, Akiba met with President Daniel Ortega Saavedra to seek his help in promoting Mayors for Peace.
Akiba will return home on Sunday.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on Jan. 21, 2010)
