Hidankyo Calls for Nuclear-Free World on 70th Anniv.

Nagasaki, Aug. 10 (Jiji Press)--Officials of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, renewed their call for a world without nuclear weapons, on the 70th anniversary of its establishment Monday.

At a press conference held near the hypocenter of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on the southwestern Japan city of Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka, 94, recalled the group's founding, which he witnessed as a university student.

"Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) throughout Japan started a movement with vigor," he said. "It is the hope of hibakusha that the world should not have nuclear weapons."

"Hibakusha will all be gone eventually," he said. "I hope that people will take over our activities, in order to get rid of nuclear (weapons) from this planet."

The press conference was attended by seven senior officials of the group, including 85-year-old co-chair Shigemitsu Tanaka.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]