UK, CHINA, RUSSIA AND PAKISTAN MUST COMPROMISE

UK, CHINA, RUSSIA AND PAKISTAN MUST COMPROMISE IF THE WORLD IS TO GET NUCLEAR TEST BAN THIS YEAR:

GENEVA, June 24th, 1996:

UK, China, Russia and Pakistan must compromise on Entry-into-Force provisions if the world is to have a CTBT ready for signing this year, Greenpeace said today.

Amendments to the draft treaty, presented by Chairman Jaap Ramaker today, show that no progress has been made toward resolving the issue of how the treaty would Enter into Force. Mr Ramaker has not amended the unworkable Entry into Force provision he proposed three weeks ago due mainly to inflexibility by Russia, the UK, China and Pakistan.

Russia, the UK, China and Pakistan are still insisting on a formula for Entry into Force that is dependent on the five nuclear weapons states PLUS the three "threshold" states -- India, Pakistan, and Israel -- signing the treaty before it can take effect.

However, India made it clear in a speech last week that it would not subscribe to a treaty that singled-out India's signing as a precondition of the treaty entering into force.

"The negotiators in Geneva must find a compromise," Greenpeace Disarmament Campaigner Josh Handler said. "There is no point trying to bully India into being part of a treaty that does not meet India's critical concerns. The best solution would be a simpler Entry-into-Force provision that includes the big five nuclear weapons states together with some 30-40 unspecified states, and makes a stronger commitment to nuclear disarmament."

Greenpeace believes that an acceptable compromise alternative would be the one proposed by the Chairman last Friday, despite its complexities. This compromise would guarantee that the treaty could enter into force, without allowing one country to block that process.

There are only four days left for delegates to negotiate a treaty that could be ready for signing in 1996.

"If CTBT negotiators cannot solve these problems by Thursday, Greenpeace will be looking for last minute intervention by the leaders of the key nuclear and industrial states at the G-7 meeting in Lyon to get the CTBT," said Handler. "Clinton, Chirac, Major, and company could solve these remaining problems in an instant."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Simon Carroll in Geneva on +41.21.728.52.25. or mobile +41.79.213.70.67.

Josh Handler in Amsterdam on +31.20.523.62.67.; mobile +31.653.41.79.47.