Go-betweens push ideas at 'lifeless' atom pact meet

By Mark Heinrich

GENEVA (Reuters) - A coalition of seven countries hopes to breathe new life into efforts to save the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, blocked for years by feuding between nuclear "haves" and "have nots", their leader said on Friday.

Mexico, Norway, Ireland, Brazil, Sweden, South Africa and New Zealand are among more than 180 nations meeting in Geneva until May 9 for talks on how to save the ailing atom control pact. They hope to move the process forward by trying to defuse mistrust and resentment between rich and poor states.

"There is a certain lifelessness (plaguing) the NPT review process," said Don MacKay, New Zealand's Geneva ambassador, who heads the so-called New Agenda Coalition.

"NAC is trying to build bridges between the sides ... but we need to get dialogue going beyond predictable prepared statements and finger-pointing," he told Reuters in an interview.

Referring to North Korea, Iran and Syria, big nuclear arms powers say alleged covert attempts to obtain and spread the means to make atom bombs mean the review's foremost task is to toughen curbs on transfers of sensitive nuclear technology.

But developing nations say this would erode their right under the NPT to the peaceful fruits of nuclear energy, and gloss over nuclear weapons powers' alleged failure to heed treaty commitments to do away with their doomsday arsenals.

None of the seven NAC countries has nuclear arms, although Brazil, Sweden and South Africa use civilian nuclear energy.

All champion disarmament, Brazil and South Africa having voluntarily scrapped efforts to enrich uranium, a process that can yield electricity or bombs.