LETTER:No nukes is good news

From Mr Bruce Kent

Sir: Michael Sheridan, your diplomatic correspondent, does not do justice to the Non-Proliferation Treaty ("Big five strive to keep nuclear peace", 17 April). It is not just a treaty that "stops the spread of nuclear weapons". It is also a treaty that, in its own words, calls for "the elimination from national arsenals of nuclear weapons".

The nuclear powers have no plans for such a nuclear weapon-free world. It can be no surprise, therefore, that the non-nuclear powers think that the treaty is being interpreted in a discriminatory way. For this reason, they want a limited extension of the treaty coupled with negotiations aimed at the removal of all nuclear weapons. Not an unreasonable position.

Yours faithfully,

BRUCE KENT

Vice-President

Campaign for Nuclear

Disarmament

London, N7

18 April