Ghana wants African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone

Ghana on Thursday called upon the United States and Russia to "take the necessary steps" to accept and approve the respective protocols of a treaty for the establishment of the nuclear weapons free zone in Africa.

Leslie K. Ci, the Ghanaian ambassador to the United Nations, made the appeals at the conference to review the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which entered its fourth day at the United Nations Thursday.

"Ghana remains committed to the global effort to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons," he said. "It is in this regard that we particularly welcomed the coming into force of the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (the Pelindaba Treaty), and we urge both the United States and Russia to take the necessary steps to sign and ratify the respective protocols of the Pelindaba Treaty and work with other signatory countries to ensure that the region remains a nuclear weapons free zone."

The Pelindaba Treaty was signed in Cairo on April 11, 1996 and entered into force on July 15, 2009.