Uganda wants nuclear weapon-free world
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=123&newsId=717399
By Vision Reporter
UGANDA wants a nuclear weapon-free world, but supports the technology for peaceful purposes. These were President Yoweri Museveni’s words during a state banquet at State House in honour of the visiting Iranian leader on Friday evening.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in the country on a two-day state visit. His visit comes at a time when Iran is under pressure from the world to abandon its nuclear programme. Major Western superpowers insist the Iran is working on a nuclear weapon’s programme.
Museveni stressed that all countries in the world had a right to access nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including electricity and for medical purposes. However, he pointed out that nuclear weapons were dangerous to humanity and called for their elimination.
“We should, therefore, work towards a nuclear weapons-free world. This means that those who have these weapons should work to get rid of them under an internationally agreed upon and verifiable treaty and those who do not possess them should not seek to acquire them,” Museveni argued.
Turning to the Middle East conflict, Museveni said Uganda supports the creation of two states: Israel and Palestine.
Ahmadinejad is known for his hard stance against the existence of Israel, which has escalated tension in the Middle East.
Museveni said Uganda supports the states of Israel and Palestine “living together side by side within internationally recognised and secure borders” as agreed upon by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Using references from the Bible, he mentioned the tribes that settled in the present-day Israel and Palestine and urged the Middle East communities to learn from African tribes.
“Our philosophy is to live and let live,” Museveni said before offering a Bible to Ahamadinejad.
“When I was in Iran, I told you about Persians and Medians in the Bible. I now give you the exact portions of the Bible where they are referred to,” he said.
“It is in the books of Esther (1:14), Daniel (6:12) and Exodus (chapters 13 and 23). I present to you a copy of the Bible for permanent reference.”
Museveni described Uganda’s relations with Iran as always excellent and assured his counterpart of Uganda’s co-operation in development.
“Uganda is ready to co-operate with Iran in all fields. Iran belongs to the Gulf and Central Asia region. We are right in the heart of the huge African continent,” Museveni said.
“It takes five and a half hours from Alexandria in Egypt and five and a half hours to Cape Town in South Africa. We can complement each other in development,” he added.
Ahmadinejad is the third Iranian president to visit Uganda. His predecessors Hashemi Rafsanjani and Muhammad Khatami were in Uganda in 1996 and 2005, respectively.
