TOKYO, Aug 5 (Saba) -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called for nuclear disarmament during a visit to Nagasaki, one of two Japanese cities devastated by US atomic bombs in World War II, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

"On this location, 65 years ago, a single plane dropped a single bomb. It left this beautiful old city of Nagasaki in ruins. It took the lives of tens of thousands of men, women and children," Ban said in a speech at a wreath-laying ceremony at the hypocenter of the atomic bombing in front of hundreds of Nagasaki citizens. "I have come today to pay my respects to their memory. It is a monument to the conviction that we must never allow such devastation to be inflicted on any population, anywhere, ever again," Ban said ahead of the 65th anniversary of the attack next Monday.

Ban flew into Nagasaki from Tokyo earlier in the day, becoming the first UN chief to visit the southern city that suffered a US atomic bombing on Aug. 9, 1945. "The only way to ensure that such weapons will never again be used is to eliminate them all," he stressed. "As secretary-general, I have offered a five-point plan on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

It includes recommendations on security, verification, transparency, conventional weapons and the legal framework for nuclear disarmament," he said. Ban also toured the Atomic Bomb Museum and met with survivors.

On August 6 in 1945, the US bomber Enola Gay dropped a bomb on Hiroshima in the world's first atomic attack that killed an estimated 140,000 people. Three days later, the world's second and last atomic bombing on Nagasaki killed some 74,000 people.

On Friday in Hiroshima, Ban is expected to become the first UN chief to attend the 65th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city on Aug. 6, 1945, together with representatives from over 70 states. US Ambassador to Japan John Roos and Washington's WWII allies Britain and France will also send envoys to attend the annual event for the first time.

Saba