National News Hiroshima mayor slams U.S. on 58th anniversary of A-bomb

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HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) - The United States seems to "worship nuclear weapons as God," Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said Aug. 6 in a scorching tirade marking the 58th anniversary of his city's destruction by an atomic bomb.

"The world without nuclear weapons and war, that our hibakusha have sought for so long, appears to be slipping deeper behind a thick cover of dark clouds, which they fear at any minute could become mushroom clouds, spilling black rain," Akiba said in the annual Peace Declaration.

During the same ceremony, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated Japan's commitment to the elimination of nuclear arms. He pledged to step up efforts to urge other nations to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing comes amid intensified global nuclear threats over the past year. The United States reversed its nuclear policy by moving to resume research into small nuclear weapons, and North Korea is believed to be bent on developing nuclear arms.

"The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the central international agreement guiding the elimination of nuclear weapons, is on the verge of collapse," Akiba said, speaking before an estimated 40,000 people in the city's Peace Memorial Park.

"The chief cause is U.S. nuclear policy. By openly declaring the possibility of a pre-emptive nuclear strike and calling for resumed research into mini-nukes and other so-called usable nuclear weapons, it appears to worship nuclear weapons as God," he said.

Akiba called on U.S. President George W. Bush, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and leaders of all the nuclear powers to visit Hiroshima and learn about the reality of atomic war.

58回目の「原爆の日」

6日、広島市の平和記念公園で、58回目の平和記念式典が行なわれた。秋葉市長は平和宣言で、核をめぐる世界情勢の緊迫化に懸念を示し、「『核兵器は神』と奉じる米国の核政策が最大の原因」と非難した。

Shukan ST: Aug. 15, 2003

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