By Shinya Ajima

HIROSHIMA, Aug. 6 Kyodo, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the international community Friday to intensify efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons, expressing hope for the success of a review conference on the nonproliferation treaty, scheduled for next year.

''The goal of a nuclear weapons-free world is still a long way off,'' Annan said in a written message sent to the city government of Hiroshima, which that day marked the 59th anniversary of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the city during World War II.

The message was delivered by U.N. Undersecretary General for Disarmament Affairs Nobuyasu Abe.

Annan expressed particular concern about ''the existence of clandestine networks dealing in nuclear materials and the prospect of terrorists with extreme ambitions gaining access to these materials.''

Tens of thousands of nuclear weapons remain in arsenals around the world, according to Annan.

As well, he said, ''There have been worrying indications that efforts are under way to develop new types of nuclear weapons,'' apparently referring to a U.S. plan to research small, low-yield nuclear weapons.

As for the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, scheduled for next May in New York, Annan called for action rather than words from the NPT nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

He said he hopes the conference ''will not only reconfirm the undertakings already made by the nuclear weapon states to accomplish the total elimination of nuclear weapons, but that these words will also be turned into deeds.''

The NPT review conference is expected to focus mainly on to what degree the nuclear powers have implemented the unequivocal undertaking they pledged in the previous review meeting in 2000.

In 2000, the signatories agreed on 13 practical steps to implement the NPT, including speedy ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, as well as a moratorium on all nuclear explosions before the treaty comes in to force.

2004-08-06 08:43:01JST