HIROSHIMA, Aug 6: The mayor of Hiroshima rebuked Washington on Friday - the 59th anniversary of his city's atomic bombing by the United States - for making plans to develop small nuclear weapons that he feared would be easier to use.
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba made the remarks at a ceremony attended by about 40,000 people, including Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plus survivors and relatives of victims of the world's first atomic attack.
"The egocentric world view of the US government is reaching extremes," Akiba told the annual memorial ceremony at the city's Peace Park, near where the bomb was dropped. "Ignoring the United Nations and its foundation of international law, the US has resumed research to make nuclear weapons smaller and more 'usable'."
The Peace Bell was tolled at 8.15am - the moment a US warplane dropped the bomb on Aug 6, 1945, and destroyed the city - and there was a minute of silence. -Reuters
