Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism

The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) was announced at the G-8 summit in St Petersberg in July 2006 as a joint initiative of Russia and the United States. [1]

GICNT aims to increase co-operation in areas including to:

• Improve accounting, control, and physical protection of nuclear material and radioactive substances, as well as security of nuclear facilities;
• Detect and suppress illicit trafficking or other illicit activities involving such materials, especially measures to prevent their acquisition and use by terrorists;
• Respond to and mitigate the consequences of acts of nuclear terrorism;
• Ensure cooperation in the development of technical means to combat nuclear terrorism;
• Ensure that states takes all possible measures to deny safe haven to terrorists seeking to acquire or use nuclear materials; and
• Strengthen our respective national legal frameworks to ensure the effective prosecution of, and the certainty of punishment for, terrorists and those who facilitate such acts. [2]

An initial meeting of the GICNT's founding partners is planned for October 2006. The Australian Minister for Foriegn Affairs, Alexander Downer, stated in a media release that the first meeting will "adopt a Statement of Principles and work plan. Partnership will subsequently be open to all states on a voluntary basis."

Related SourceWatch Resources

• nuclear weapons

External links

• "Joint Statement by U.S. President George Bush and Russian Federation President V.V. Putin Announcing the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism", Media Release, July 15, 2006.
• White House, "Fact Sheet: The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism", Media Release, July 15, 2006.
• Alexander Downer, "Australia Joins Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism", Media Release, July 15, 2006.

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