Rudd announces new nuke disarmament body

Australia has set up a new body for nuclear disarmament, hoping to recruit "like-minded countries" to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the prime minister said yesterday.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the Nuclear Nonproliferations and Disarmament Commission during a visit to Japan, after laying a wreath in Hiroshima, site of the world's first nuclear bombing.

"Hiroshima should cause the world community to resolve afresh that all humankind must exert their every effort for peace in this 21st century," Rudd said.