Shaikh Khalid stresses Bahrain’s Support of nuclear disarmament initiatives

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa reiterated the Kingdom’s backing of all international resolutions and initiatives aimed at disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. He said that Bahrain is fully supporting and voting in favour of the draft resolution entitled “United action towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons” submitted by Japan annually at the UN General Assembly. The Foreign Minister expressed the Middle East’s concern over worldwide attempts seeking to deploy nuclear weapons, including Iran’s nuclear issue. The Minister stressed urging Iran to comply with relevant UN Security Council’s and the IAEA’s resolutions, pointing out the Kingdom’s rejection of last February’s North Korea’s nuclear test. This was stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of opening the Exhibition “From the Culture of Violence to the Culture of Peace, Toward a World Free from Nuclear Weapons" held at Bahrain National Museum, organized by Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, and Soka Gakkai Organization. The Exhibition was also organized by the International Campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons, U.N’s Information Centre, Inter-Press Service (IPS), the Government of Bahrain and the Japanese Embassy. Minister of Foreign Affairs lauded the importance of the exhibition, which highlights nuclear weapons issues, and contributes to the discussion on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction. Shaikh Khalid Al Khalifa valued the efforts of those involved in the exhibition, hoping that people all over the world would highly appreciate the principles of peace and stability and work towards such aims. Meanwhile, Manama is the first Middle Eastern city to host such exhibition, which was first launched in 2007, and held in 29 cities including New York, Geneva, Vienna, London, Rome, Berlin, Hong Kong, Manila and other major cities.