国际英语新闻：German FM urges equal importance on nuclear,conventional disarmament

MUNICH, Germany, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned Saturday the world should make sure nuclear disarmament did not trigger a conventional arms race or even wars.

"Anyone who is serious about a world free of nuclear weapons, about 'global zero', must also take conventional arms control and disarmament into account," Westerwelle said in a discussion panel at the Munich Security Conference.

Germany supported the U.S.-Russian negotiations on strategic arms reduction, which has come to the final phase after several rounds of talks since May 2009 aimed at replacing the already expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki (R) attends the press conference of the 46th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 5, 2010. Manouchehr Mottaki told the Munich Security Conference on Friday he was confident of a deal soon with the IAEA on shipping Tehran's low-enriched uranium abroad in exchange for higher-grade fuel that could be used in a civil-purpose reactor.

Both sides have agreed to cut deployed nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 on each side.

"Success on this issue will have a positive effect on the upcoming UN review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in May," the foreign minister said.

Westerwelle warned world powers of possible competition in conventional weapons, and maintained that "nuclear and conventional disarmament must go hand in hand."

On the Iranian nuclear program, he said, "our hands remain outstretched, but has not been taken up so far. Iran should follow up its words of agreeing on exporting nuclear fuel for enrichment abroad, which would be a confidence-building step," the minister said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki (R) attends the press conference of the 46th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Feb. 5, 2010. Manouchehr Mottaki told the Munich Security Conference on Friday he was confident of a deal soon with the IAEA on shipping Tehran's low-enriched uranium abroad in exchange for higher-grade fuel that could be used in a civil-purpose reactor

In Friday's conference, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his county hoped to reach a uranium deal with the international community "in the not-distant future."

The 46th Munich Security Conference (MSC), running from Feb. 5 to 7, is also known as the "Davos of security policy". About 300 high-ranking participants have been invited to address major global challenges, among which nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament were highlighted.