Mazzarino (CL), Italy, november, 27th, 2009

International Conference “Peace is in our hands”

Mr. Mayor of Kermanshah, Mr. Mayor of Halabja, Mr. Mayor of Mazzarino, Mr. Mayors for Peace, Citizens,

at the Conference “Cities are not targets”, helded in Florence, in november 2007, in the historic “Salone dei Cinquecento”, the Mayors for Peace, leaded by the Mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba, addressed the international community to avoid that cities will never more considered targets of weapons of mass destruction. Accepting the proposal made by the Italian chapter of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Peace Prized Nobel 1985 Organization, we participated at the United Nations, as members of the official delegation of Mayors for Peace, to the Preparation Commission for the Review Conference for the Not Proliferation Treaty. In that occasion we proposed, inside the “Good Faith Initiatives” wanted by the Mayor of Hiroshima, the Mediterranean as Nuclear Weapons Free Sea. The italian and american decision to close the nuclear submarine base of La Maddalena Island represents a best occsion to talk about Mediterranean as Nuclear Weapons Free Sea, as first concrete step in the Disarmament Decade declared by the UN from 2010 to 2020, and in the 2020 Vision of Mayors for Peace.

The Mediterranean Sea, site of ancient civilizations, can and must, even for the story of mankind, be the first zone of the Planet to be made free by nuclear weapons, under the guide of the martyr cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and of the global movement of Mayors for Peace, by those wanted, built, developed and leaded, and that represents today the highest point of the Citizens’ Diplomacy, that must support the Nations’ Diplomacy to build perspectives of Peace and Disarmament, and together of Dialogue and Development between civilizations, and of Defense of the Planet and of the Nature.

Particularly, we propose that harbours, sea surfaces, waters and depths of the Mediterranean Sea will be forbidden to ships and submarines armed by nuclear weapons and that, where deployed, must be removed and forbidden for the future, each nuclear device from the sea surface, the sea waters and the sea depths.

We are convinced that an agreement to create the Mediterranean Nuclear Weapons Free Sea represents the project most quickly available, in the perspective of the development of Nuclear Weapons Free Zones both in Europe and in the Middle and Far East.

We should have helded in Italy, in our region, in our adriatic territory, in occasion of the Mediterranean Sport Games of last june and july, the Mediterranean Meeting of Mayors for Peace, to officially launch in that site the proposal to create the Mediterranean Nuclear Weapons Free Sea, but the l’Aquila’s Earthquake avoided that.

Our municipalities, Pineto and Silvi, are contiguous. Our citizens are showing different political majorities, and have different opinions about political programms, but their two Mayors agreed to do their best, inside the “Good Faith Initiatives”, to guarantee, behind their different political opinions, inside the 2020 Vision of MfP, the first condition for the future and the health of our citizens: peace and nuclear disarmament, general, mutual and controlled.

So we are here today, accepting the most kind and most useful and opportune invitation sent by your Mayor, not only to launch from the hearth of the Mediterranean the proposal to create a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, but also with the hope to move the Colleague Mayor of Kermanshah and all the Iranians Mayors for Peace to work in their country to avoid in his region another, most dangerous race to make new nuclear weapons, but on the contrary to make possible the starting from their own Country the proposal to free all the Middle East, other than the Mediterranean Sea, by nuclear weapons and each other weapon of mass destruction.

About the possibility to use the nuclear energy for civil purposes, to produce electric energy, the debate is opened in the world and even in our country, and to no country must be denied the possibility to self determinations in this sense, moreover (even with new global consciousness so well showed by the 2020 Vision by the Mayor of Hiroshima and by 3147 Mayors for Peace from all the Planet, the target to make the world free by all nuclear weapons in 2020), is most urgent and fundamental to remove all suspicions, confusion, shadows, inside the legal development by a nation and by a people to research and develop the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, between civil and military use of this national technology.

Has happened yet drammatically, as well remembered recently and sadly in an exclusive interview given not for a case to an authoritative italian newspaper by the General Director of the Agency for the Atomic Energy of the United Nations, the Peace Prize Nobel 2005 and egyptian diplomatic Mohamed el Baradei, that to prevent the development of nuclear weapons by a State, even through false documents, was promoted a war against a nation and a people. That is why that must be suddenly removed every possible suspicion about the possible military use of uranium enriched by Iran.

Particularly, he has also said: “We made many progresses about the control of the program of enrichment in Iran. We are proceeding to new verifications to avoid that will be military purposes. Naturally must be made more, insist, reach absolute certainty.

Different foreign intelligences gave us documents about what is happening in Iran. Thouse are plans of study about nuclear weapons; but thouse show that thouse study are not been developed. After an hard and right work of screening the Agency suspects instead that some documents are false.”.

To avoid risks that all this put to the maintenance of peace, and also near the next change of El Baradei with a japanese diplomatic to guide the Atomic Agency of the United Nations, the italian Mayor of Pineto, the italian Mayor of Silvi and the italian President of IPPNW, Nobel Peace Prized 1985 Organization, from the hearth of Sicily and of the Mediterranean region, supported by the kind hospitality of the Mayors of this country, allow to invite the Mayor of Kermanshah and all the iranian Mayors for Peace to move their government to accept the request, made to it by the Atomic Agency, to avoid each possible justification towards hostile actions towards their Nation and their People, to accept the international request to send abroud, towards a foreign and friend nuclear power State, the uranium to be enriched to produce iranian nuclear energy for civil and peaceful purposes.

We allow ourselves furthermore to suggest to the Mayor of Kermanshah and to the Iranian Mayors for Peace to be supported towards this target by the whole global organization of Mayors for Peace, in the person of the Mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba, and to ask him personally this kind of support to You, to Your Cities, and to Your People.

Thank you for your attention

Luciano Monticelli, Mayor of Pineto,

Gaetano Vallescura, Mayor of Silvi,

Michele Di Paolantonio, President of IPPNW Italy,

Peace Prized Nobel 1985 Organization