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Add: US welcomes

WELLINGTON: New Zealand Foreign Minister Don McKinnon on Saturday welcomed the call by the United States for a ban on all nuclear tests, describing it as a "step in the right direction."

"Coming on top of a similar announcement by the France, the president's statement is another major step in the right direction and certainly moves the world that much closer to the possibility that a really credible and all-encompassing Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will be signed next year," the New Zealand Press Association quoted McKinnon as saying.-AFP