CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT CONCLUDES FIRST PART OF 2007 SESSION

The Conference on Disarmament today concluded the first part of its 2007 session, which opened on 22 January in Geneva. The Conference decided to defer action on the presidential draft decision (CD/2007/L.1) under which it would start substantive work, and supported a plan to hold a special session, in accordance with Article 8 of its Rules of Procedure, to consider the draft decision as soon as possible, during the month of April. As Article 8 provided, that would be done in consultation with and with the full agreement of all members.

The presidential draft decision, contained in document CD/2007/L.1, which calls for the appointment of four Coordinators – to preside over substantive discussions on the issues of nuclear disarmament; prevention of an arms race in outer space; and negative security assurances; and to preside over negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices – has been described by many Members as the Conference's best chance to get back to substantive work and to break the 10-year deadlock over the issue of agreeing on a programme of work.

Ambassador Sarala Fernando of Sri Lanka, the President of the Conference, said that, at yesterday's formal plenary it had been concluded that a few delegations needed more time to receive instructions from capitals on the Presidential draft decision, and that there had been no change in that situation today. Providing more time as requested by delegations would indeed have the effect of encouraging a greater sense of ownership of the Presidential draft decision and the process involved. At the same time, it had to be recognized that many delegations had already made enormous efforts towards getting positive instructions on the basis of compromise and flexibility towards their common goal of getting the Conference on Disarmament back to work. Those efforts should be reciprocated.

Delegations agreed in principle to the holding of a special session, but insisted that it be done as soon as possible, during the month of April, and that it be clearly under Article 8 of the Rules of Procedure, which says special sessions may be called by the President "in full consultation with and with the agreement of all its members". Reference to Article 8 was necessary, Algeria said, to ensure that they used the special session to take a decision on a programme of work and not to block it again. That position was also endorsed by Egypt, Iran and Pakistan. China, however, said that, while it would not oppose the proposal to hold a special session, that could not be interpreted as meaning that the special session would definitely have to take a final, official decision on the Presidential draft proposal. India, Ecuador, Syria and Spain also took the floor.

The second half of the Conference's 2007 session will be held from Monday, 14 May to Friday, 29 June 2007. The next plenary, of the regular session, will be held on Tuesday, 15 May, at 10 a.m.


Statements

SARALA FERNANDO (Sri Lanka), President of the Conference on Disarmament, said that at yesterday's formal plenary it had been concluded that a few delegations needed more time to receive instructions from capitals on the Presidential draft decision CD/2007/L.1. There had been no change in that situation today. Providing more time as requested by delegations would indeed have the effect of encouraging a greater sense of ownership of the Presidential draft decision and the process involved. At the same time, it had to be recognized that many delegations had already made enormous efforts towards getting positive instructions on the basis of compromise and flexibility towards their common goal of getting the Conference on Disarmament back to work. Those efforts should be reciprocated.

It should be clear to all of them, the President said, that for practical reasons, a decision would have to be taken on document CD/2007/L.1 sooner rather than later in order to enable the Six Presidents (P-6) to propose a schedule of activities for the second part of the session. The sooner that was done, the better, as it would facilitate the work of all capitals with regard to arranging for their representation at the forthcoming meetings and the participation of experts. Therefore, in the inter-sessional period, the P-6 would remain in regular contact with those Member States that had requested more time, in order to ascertain their readiness to move forward towards a decision on the document CD/2007/L.1. Furthermore, the P-6 proposed to convene a special session of the Conference for the sole purpose of providing a timely opportunity to proceed towards action on the Presidential draft decision before the commencement of the second part of the 2007 session in May.

In order to consult with the Member States on that proposal, the President suspended the plenary and resumed in an informal meeting.

The President said the outcome of the informal meeting was that the Conference had agreed to convene as soon as possible a special session in accordance with the Rules of Procedure during the month of April 2007.

HAMZA KHELIF (Algeria) regretted that the Conference appeared to be spinning its wheels on this issue. Algeria welcomed the decision to hold a special session so as not to jeopardize the Six Presidents initiative and in order to find a way to consensus; however, Algeria wanted to be sure that any special session was in accordance with Article 8 of the Conference's Rules of Procedure. Algeria just wanted to ensure that they used the special session to take a decision on a programme of work and not to block it again.

SAMEH SHOUKRY (Egypt) suggested that the text proposed by the President on the holding of a special session should include the words "in accordance with Article 8 of the Rules of Procedure".

JAYANT PRASAD (India) said that if there was consensus on the text proposed by the Presidency, as orally amended by Algeria and Egypt, India would go along with it. India was, however, concerned that they might be losing sight of the fact that the special session presupposed the Conference's reaching consensus on the proposed Presidential draft decision. In that regard, India encouraged the Presidency to continue to undertake consultations and discussions to that end. Any special session had to have the adoption of that text as its final object.

SEYED MOHAMMAD KAZEM SAJJADPOUR (Iran) also underlined the necessity of referring to the Article 8 of the Rules of Procedure. There was an emerging consensus on two points: one was that there was a need for consultation; and the second was that there was no consensus on the presidential text – and that had to be considered.

CHENG JINGYE (China) reiterated China's position as stated in the informal meeting, that China would not oppose the proposal to hold a special session. However, that could not be interpreted as meaning that the special session would definitely have to take a final, official decision on the presidential draft proposal.

SARALA FERNANDO, the President, amended her text, as orally proposed by delegations, to read that the Conference would undertake "as soon as possible to hold a special session, in accordance with Article 8 of the Rules of Procedure, during the month of April 2007".

AFTAB A. KHOKHER (Pakistan) said that with the inclusion of the wording on Article 8, it had made it more clear that the Presidents would hold consultations. With that inclusion, Pakistan would join the consensus.

CARLO SANTOS (Ecuador) said that Ecuador supported the proposal to appoint the four Coordinators that had been proposed last week.

Ms. FERNANDO, the President, announced that the report of the work undertaken during the first part of the session had been published and was now available as document CD/1820.

HUSSEIN ALI (Syria) said everyone knew Syria's position on disarmament: the question the Conference had to address as a foremost priority was nuclear disarmament. Syria also wished to point out that there was quite a difference between Syria's position and the text of the draft decision CD/2007/L.1. Despite that difference, Syria would content itself with making known its reservations. In Syria's view the conclusions and recommendations contained in CD/1820, including the draft resolution that had been distributed in CD/2007/L.1, could be strengthened to reflect in a more comprehensive manner the views that had been expressed by the Members of the Conference on Disarmament. Syria would continue to work, as they had done before, as part of the Six Presidents and with the Members of the Conference to enable the Conference to shoulder its responsibilities and achieve the objectives for which it had been set up.

Ms. FERNANDO said that delegations would be informed in advance of the date of the special session. The first plenary of the second half of the regular session would be held on Tuesday, 15 May, at 10 a.m.

GERARDO BUGALLO (Spain) said that Spain also had, as perhaps they all did, its own ideal version of the proposal or proposals. What was important was the support they all gave to the Six Presidents and their work.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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