Nuclear Pact

VIENNA (AP) — Iraq has signed a global treaty banning all nuclear explosions. The organization that administers the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty says Iraq is the 179th country to sign onto the ban. However for the treaty to go into effect it must be signed and ratified by 44 states that participated in a 1996 disarmament conference and had nuclear power or research reactors at the time. Thirty-five of those countries have ratified the pact, including Britain, France and Russia. The holdouts include the United States, Iran and North Korea.