Queen Noor pushes US, Russia for nuke cuts

Amman: Jordan's Queen Noor, a founder of an international initiative to eliminate nuclear weapons, called on the presidents of the United States and Russia to advance the cause at their Monday summit by agreeing to significant cuts in their arsenals.

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April issued a joint statement committing themselves to the goal of a nuclear weapons-free world. The two leaders are to meet Monday in Moscow for talks that many expect will lead to a framework agreement on new weapons cuts beyond the START-1 treaty that expires this year.

"We're so heartened that President Obama and President Medvedev have made that commitment. We pray they will build on that in the July 6th meeting, commit to deep reductions in their arsenals that will then help us to begin multilateral negotiations with the other nuclear countries that we hope will deter other countries aspiring to become nuclear ... to see that the movement is going against them," Noor said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN.

Noor is one of the founders of Global Zero, which includes current and former senior officials from nuclear powers. The organisation last month presented a four-step plan aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons by 2030.

The American-born Noor, the widow of King Hussein, said materials exist in some 40 countries "to make another 100,000 bombs over the 23,000 estimated that we have today. The dangers of those materials ending up in the hands of terrorists or misused by governments is increasing by the day."

Turning to the Middle East, Noor expressed hope that Obama could mobilise support in the United States and elsewhere to see peace realized in the region.

Such peace, she said, must be based on justice, "the removal of illegal obstacles to peace, the rights of all living in the region, and freedom from occupation of the Palestinian people." She did not elaborate.

Noor called Obama "a truer and more honest friend to Israel as well as to others in the region that perhaps anyone that has preceded him."

Obama has taken a tougher stand with Israel than past US administrations by calling for a complete halt to Jewish settlement building in the West Bank in order to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

"He is talking about what is in the best interest of the security of the people of Israel as well as the security of the Palestinians and others in the region," she said.