Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-08-05

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] European Left parties submit anti-nuclear appeal to Greek Parliament

[01] European Left parties submit anti-nuclear appeal to Greek Parliament

The appeal was originally proposed by Greece's Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (Synaspismos) party at the Forum of the European New Left.

It makes a series of demands - such as adherence to the treaty for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, an end to 'preemptive wars', removal of some 480 U.S. nuclear weapons that are still in Europe and the signature of a full nuclear test ban treaty by the U.S. - which aim to make the world free of nuclear weapons by 2020.

Synaspismos spokesman Panos Trigazis stressed that the Belgian Parliament and Senate had been the first in an EU member-state to adopt a demand for the withdrawal of U.S. nukes from Europe, asking the Greek government to explain why it had fully aligned itself with a position that they should stay during a NATO nuclear planning meeting on June 9.

Trigazis also pointed out that demands for Iran to give up its nuclear programme should be accompanied by initiatives to make the entire Middle East a nuclear-free zone, starting with Israel's nuclear arsenal.

In Hiroshima, Greenpeace staged a protest in front of the Hiroshima Dome, holding dove-shaped balloons that carried messages of peace sent from people all over the world. Greenpeace called on the Japanese government to abort plans to open the Rokkasho Mura nuclear processing plant in Aomori province, which is scheduled to start producting plutonium next year.

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