United Nations Radio

The UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution aimed at stepping up efforts to prevent non-state actors from getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

It calls for the full implementation of a Council resolution of 2004 requiring all UN member states to adopt laws to prevent non-state actors from acquiring nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. It also extends for three years the mandate of a committee monitoring compliance with that resolution and calls on all states that haven't done so, to submit a report without delay. The Council's President Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa acknowledged that developing countries might have trouble creating the mechanisms to comply with that requirement.

"If you are a developing country that has never seen a weapon of mass destruction, and you have the choice of feeding your people or creating some fancy structure, it becomes difficult."

Ambassador Kumalo added that the committee should work with such countries, so that they are not used by terrorists to spread weapons of mass destruction.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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