UN chief urges approval of arms trade treaty

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging the world's nations to agree on a strong U.N. treaty to regulate the multibillion-dollar global arms trade in the next two weeks, saying it will make it more difficult for warlords, organized criminals and terrorists to obtain weapons. According to AP, hopes for reaching an agreement on what would be a landmark treaty were dashed last July when the United States said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord, and then Russia and China also asked for a delay. In December the General Assembly set the end of the conference - March 28 - as a deadline for reaching agreement. The U.N. chief opened the final U.N. conference on an Arms Trade Treaty on Monday saying: 'Now is the time to overcome past setbacks and deliver.'