US in the Firing Line at UN-Sponsored Disarmament Conference

The United States faced condemnation for growing unilateralism in arms control issues at the first UN-sponsored disarmament conference since Washington named potential nuclear targets in a leaked defense review.

Veteran anti-landmines campaigner Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1997 for her work, condemned Washington's response to September 11.

Some participants criticized Washington directly for plowing ahead with its own diplomacy since the September 11 terrorist attacks, while others lamented a general global trend away from collective security.

"The calamitous events of September 11 should only serve to redouble our efforts, not to divert them," UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala said in his opening address.

"(But) our collective efforts (at arms control and disarmament) are hindered by the rise of unilateral actions... that jeopardize common efforts," he said, without specifying any guilty parties.