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NEW YORK/UNITED NATIONS - A United Nations review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is ending in failure today, according to a Japanese delegate who said there is no agreement on new steps toward disarmament or measures to block nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

The danger of a nuclear holocaust may never have been greater, yet the 188 signatories to the global pact against nuclear weapons have rarely been more divided, arms experts and diplomats said. The United States is sending the wrong signal to signatories of the global pact against nuclear weapons by backing out of previous arms control pledges, arms experts and diplomats said. Friday is the final day of the review conference of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a monthlong meeting held once every five years to take stock of the landmark accord. United Nations Secretary General Annan addresses the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York, in this May 2, 2005 file photo. Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters

None of the three committees created to deal with the issues of disarmament, proliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy and terms of withdrawal from the treaty presented a substantive report. Brazilian diplomat Sergio Duarte, president of the conference, began the last meeting by telling delegates there would be no comprehensive outcome document.

The conference, a five-year review of the 1970 treaty, began on May 2 with Secretary-General Kofi Annan telling delegates that ``the consequences of failure are too great to aim for anything less'' than new measures to block proliferation of nuclear weapons and reduce the number of existing arms.

Iran, North Korea

The U.S. called for amendments to the treaty to block the development of nuclear weapons by Iran and North Korea, or a determination to refer those issues to the UN Security Council. Delegations led by Egypt and Iran demanded assurances of the nuclear powers that they wouldn't attack non-nuclear nations, and that they would ratify the proposed test ban treaty.

Neither side compromised and the delegates didn't adopt an agenda until May 11 or refer key issues to committees until May 19, leaving too little time for agreements.

``This appears to be the most acute failure in the treaty's history,'' Thomas Graham, a U.S. envoy to disarmament talks under Democratic U.S. President Bill Clinton told reporters at the UN yesterday. ``It comes at a time when the treaty is under heavy pressure, weaker than it has ever been because of the Iranian and North Korean situations, and will have an effect on keeping the regime going.''

Diplomats put much of the blame on the U.S., saying the Republican Bush administration wasn't willing to reaffirm disarmament commitments made at previous conferences or allow discussion of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East that would include destruction of Israel's undeclared arms. Israel, which has never acknowledged having nuclear weapons, has not ratified the treaty.

Blaming the U.S.

``You need to compromise, show recognition for the key priorities of other states,'' Paul Meyer, head of Canada's delegation, said in an interview. ``The positions of the vast majority of states have to be acknowledged, but we did not get that kind of diplomacy from the U.S.''

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, a Democrat, said in a news conference at the UN yesterday that U.S. nuclear policies were ``immoral, illegal, militarily unnecessary and destructive of the non-proliferation regime that has served us so well over the 40 years.''

Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the UN, said Egypt and Iran sabotaged the conference by blocking agreement on an agenda until May 11. He said the U.S. wanted to use the ``precious'' remaining time to deal with the emerging problems of Iran and North Korea rather than discussing past disarmament commitments.

U.S. Nuclear Deterrent

``This conference is as much about nonproliferation as it is disarmament,'' Grenell said. ``We have discussed disarmament, made commitments and are proud of our record. But a credible U.S. nuclear deterrent is an important statement that will always be there.''

North Korea, which has said it has nuclear weapons, withdrew from the treaty in 2003 and didn't attend the conference. U.S. officials met North Korean representatives at the UN on May 13, the first such meeting in six months, amid efforts to convince the communist country to restart talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear weapons that include the U.S., Japan, China, South Korea and Russia.

Iran agreed last November to suspend its enrichment of uranium, a program the U.S. believes is meant to produce nuclear weapons, during talks with the U.K., Germany and France. Iran said after a May 25 meeting with European nations, known as the EU-3, that it would continue the suspension while they prepare a ``detailed proposal'' to end the crisis.

``At the same time the conference was arguing about procedures the EU countries were negotiating a continuation of Iran's enrichment moratorium, which shows that the most important nonproliferation work is being done in capitals and not at the UN,'' former U.S. State Department policy planner and Pentagon adviser Lee Feinstein, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview.

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