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Obama tells world leaders, nuclear terror threat remains

Seoul, March 27 (): Speaking at a two-day nuclear security summit in South Korea’s capital Seoul on Tuesday, Barack Obama, the US president, said there are “still too many bad actors” in the world trying to get their hands on nuclear material, which could result in a terror attack that kills large numbers of people.

The North’s plan to launch a long-range rocket next month has overshadowed the 53-nation summit, which is meant to focus on the threat of uranium and other nuclear material from falling into the hands of terrorists.

“It would not take much, just a handful or so of these materials, to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and that’s not an exaggeration, that’s the reality that we face,” Obama said on the concluding day of the summit attended by nearly 53 world leaders.

US President Barack Obama says he is pushing for “a world without nuclear weapons”, and has made a direct appeal to North Korea. He warned Pyongyang there would be “no rewards for provocation”.

”You can continue with the road you are on but we know where that leads,” he said. ”Today, we say: Pyongyang, have the courage to pursue peace.”

Obama said he is pushing for “a world without nuclear weapons”, making direct appeals to North Korea and Iran.

Obama has urged North Korean leaders to abandon their rocket plan or risk jeopardising their country’s future and thwarting a recent US pledge of food aid in return for nuclear and missile test moratoria, considered a breakthrough after years of deadlock.

He also pledged to work with Russia and China, speaking ahead of a summit in Seoul aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism.

The US president said he was looking forward to meeting newly-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin in May to discuss further nuclear arms cuts.

Obama’s mission over three days in the South Korean capital will be to show progress _ in pressuring North Korea to change its rogue ways and in approaching a lofty goal of locking down nuclear material around the globe by 2014.