From Fredrik S. Heffermehl, Oslo, Norway

Many of you will love to learn that the Norwegian Foreign Minister called for more protesters in the streets—against nuclear weapons. In his speech during the 10 years of Land Mines Ban celebration, he expressed great belief in the successful New Diplomacy and foresaw a role for this experience in the struggle to avoid a new nuclear arms race:

Initiatives like this (The seven country initiative were Norway participates with a.o. UK and South Africa-my addition) may help to enhance the dialogue that is required to achieve positive results in the area of nuclear arms control.

But to succeed we still need civil society mobilization. People need a wake-up call. Nuclear disarmament is not yesterday’s news. It a burning topic for today and tomorrow.

The headline and lead in Norway´s leading newspaper, Aftenposten, were :

“STØRE FEARS NUCLEAR ARMS RACE
Foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre is worried that a new nuclear arms race lies ahead and not least the lack of popular protest against such a development.”

Here is the Aftenposten story in the English web edition of the paper: http://tinyurl.com/2fx9u9

Foreign minister calls for more anti-nuclear activism Norway’s seemingly indefatigable foreign minister was back on the lecture circuit this week, speaking at a conference in Oslo marking 10 years of efforts to ban land mines and urging more public awareness and concern about nuclear proliferation.

Foreign Minister has lots of items on his agenda, and the threat of nuclear proliferation was among them this week.

Jonas Gahr Støre maintains a weekly schedule that likely would exhaust most “normal” folks by Monday afternoon. He’s also passionate about a number of issues, and this week, a new looming atomic threat on his agenda.

“Nuclear proliferation is not yesterday’s news,” he told his audience at the conference organized by the Norwegian Red Cross, an organization Støre once headed. “It’s a burning question for both today and the future.”

Støre let it be known that he’s worried not only about the possibility of a new nuclear arms race, but even more over what he sees as a lack of public outrage over such a development.

Støre, from the Norwegian Labour Party, urged his audience to remember the political process involved in earlier campaigns against nuclear proliferation, and how volunteer organizations all over the world got involved.

He said the challenge now is to use that knowledge and experience to halt a new arms race.

Norway, he noted, has taken the initiative along with several other countries including Great Britain and South Africa, to drum up attention around nuclear containment and non-proliferation. He said such initiatives can contribute towards control of nuclear weapons.

He said later that developing countries are trying to acquire nuclear weapons for security reasons, while existing atomic powers are building new and more advanced weapons systems. He didn’t identify any specific countries, but Iran’s efforts have long been in the news, and both the British and the Americans are known to be modernizing their nuclear weapons systems.

Støre’s concern was shared by Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her efforts towards banning landmines. Williams said she was “shocked” that there’s no public fury over current nuclear proliferation.

Another Nobel Prize winner at the conference, Shirin Ebadi of Iran, called her homeland one of the world’s most mine-infested countries, and the government wants to maintain them to prevent another invasion from Iraq.

Fredrik S.HEFFERMEHL
N. Juels g. 28 A, N-0272 Oslo, Norway
Phone +47-2244 8003 (Cell: +47 9174 4783)
E-mail: fredpax [at] online [dot] no
NFR: www.nowar.no or IPB: www.ipb.org
Hon. President, Norwegian Peace Alliance
Ex Vice President, International Peace Bureau
Vice Pres, Intntl. Assn. Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms
International Free Vanunu Committee