HIROSHIMA, Japan (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called Monday for an end to nuclear weapons as he toured a memorial to the horror of the world's first atomic bombing.
Rudd started a visit to Japan, aimed at easing doubts about his commitment to the two countries' alliance, with a tour of Hiroshima, where a partially destroyed dome lies as a memorial to the nuclear attack.
The first Australian premier to visit the memorial was joined by his wife, Therese Rein, as they laid a wreath and toured a museum documenting the August 6, 1945 attack.
He wrote in the museum guestbook: "Let the world resolve afresh from the ashes of this city -- to work together for the common mission of peace for this Asia-Pacific century, and for a world where one day nuclear weapons are no more."
He echoed his remarks in public remarks, saying "Hiroshima should cause the world community to resolve afresh that all humankind must exert their every effort for peace in this 21st century."
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city in the early morning, killing about 140,000 people either immediately or in the months that followed from radiation injuries or horrific burns.
Three days later, an even more powerful nuclear bomb flattened Nagasaki, killing another 70,000 people. Japan surrendered six days afterwards, ending World War II.
Rudd has taken a harder line on nuclear issues since taking office last year, reversing a decision to sell uranium to India because New Delhi has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
His commitment on nuclear issues will likely be welcomed in Japan, where the election of Rudd's Labor Party was received with some unease last year.
Japanese officials were privately irate when Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking Sinophile, visited China rather than Japan on his first major overseas visit that also took him to the United States and Europe.
Rudd has also ramped up pressure on Japan over whaling, sending a customs vessel to monitor Tokyo's controversial annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean.
Japan, which says that whaling is part of its culture, kills hundreds of the giant mammals each year in defiance of strong protests by Australia and New Zealand.
Rudd later Monday headed to the western Japanese city of Kyoto to highlight one of his signature issues -- climate change.
He was due to speak with students at a school in the namesake city of the groundbreaking environmental treaty which mandates cuts in the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for causing global warming.
Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol as his first act in office since ousting the conservative John Howard, leaving the United States as the only major industrial nation to hold out.
Rudd later heads on to Nagoya, where he will meet executives of the Toyota Motor Corp., and to Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and an audience with Emperor Akihito.
The Australian leader last week unveiled a plan for a European Union-style "Asia-Pacific Community."
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