UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Tuesday expressed his "wholeheartedly welcome" to the adoption of the first-ever Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) by the General Assembly, praising it as a "historic diplomatic achievement."
"It will be a powerful new tool in our efforts to prevent grave human rights abuses or violations of international humanitarian law. And it will provide much-needed momentum for other global disarmament and non-proliferation efforts," a spokesman for Ban said in a statement issued here.
The UN chief commended the members of civil society for the " critical role they played from the inception of this process, through their expert contributions and enthusiastic support."
"The ATT will make it more difficult for deadly weapons to be diverted into the illicit market and it will help to keep warlords, pirates, terrorists, criminals and their like from acquiring deadly arms," the statement said.
Ban called on all governments to join forces with civil society to ensure the full and effective implementation of the treaty.
"The UN will provide its full support as we strive to fulfill the great promise of this landmark global instrument," said the statement.
The UN General Assembly on Tuesday voted to adopt the Arms Trade Treaty, which regulates the multi-billion-U.S. dollar international arms trade.
The vote at the General Assembly took place after the UN conference on the treaty failed to adopt the pact last week due to a lack of consensus among 193 UN member states.
In December 2006, the UN General Assembly voted to begin working on a new treaty regulating international trade in conventional weapons. In last July, the conference failed to reach consensus because of a U.S. objection.
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