UNITED NATIONS, May 27: After a month of bickering, the 188 signatories to the global pact against atomic weapons failed on Friday to agree on new steps to combat the danger of a nuclear holocaust and many blamed the United States and Iran. The review of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was characterized by divisive debates over North Korea, Iran’s nuclear enrichment ambitions, Israel’s presumed atomic arsenal and US plans for new and improved atomic weapons.

When the conference began on May 2, countries had hoped to agree on a plan to repair loopholes in the treaty that enable countries to acquire sensitive atomic technology and to hear from Washington and the four other NPT members with nuclear weapons that they remained committed to disarming.

But it quickly descended into procedural bickering, led by the United States, Iran and Egypt, before failing to reach any agreement on Friday, the last day of the conference. In a clear swipe at Washington, which angered developing countries by refusing to reaffirm previous pledges to scrap its own nuclear arsenal, Canada’s chief delegate blasted countries that tossed aside earlier commitments.

“If governments simply ignore or discard commitments whenever they prove inconvenient, we will never be able to build an edifice of international cooperation and confidence in the security realm,” Ambassador Paul Meyer, the head of Canada’s delegation, said in a speech to the conference.

“We believe this is a treaty worth fighting for and we are not prepared to stand idly by while its crucial supports are undermined,” Paul Meyer said. The United States has denied undermining the conference. Privately, US officials put the blame on Iran and Egypt, who they said hijacked the block of non-aligned nations in an attempt to focus criticism on the United States and Israel.

US officials said that in the wake of the attacks of Sept 11, 2001, the most urgent issue was not disarmament but proliferation and the possibility that terrorists could get their hands on atomic weapons.

“Much has changed since we last met five years ago,” Ambassador Jackie Sanders told the conference. In addition to North Korea withdrawing from the NPT and announcing it has nuclear weapons, Iran appears to want the bomb, she said.

“Iran’s nuclear weapons program, previously shrouded in secrecy and deceit, has been exposed, as have Iran’s violations of its (NPT) obligations,” she said.

Malaysia, speaking on behalf of the non-aligned states, emphasized that disarmament was as important as proliferation. The delegates had been trying to reach agreement in three committees that cover the three pillars of the accord — disarmament, verification of safeguards on national nuclear programs and the peaceful use of atomic energy.—Reuters