TWO international nuclear disarmament organisations are to bring their annual meetings to Scotland next year in recognition of the key referendum issue of removal of Trident from the Clyde.
The announcement comes as the SNP conference this week prepares to debate party policy on Nato, which will see the demand for the removal of all nuclear weapons from Scotland re-affirmed.
SNP MSP Bill Kidd is a global council member of Abolition 2000, a network of organisations campaigning for nuclear disarmament, and co-president of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. He said: "I am delighted to report that I have been given a commitment from both Abolition 2000 and PNND that they will be bringing their 2013 AGM meetings to Scotland.
"Both of these highly regarded organisations are UN-accredited and both are aware of the potential impact on international nuclear disarmament that the Scottish commitment to the removal of Trident from our country represents."
Ahead of Friday's debate in Perth, Alex Salmond has written that any move towards an independent Scotland seeking to remain within Nato would be in the context of a written constitution reinforcing his party's "unshakable opposition to nuclear weapons and our commitment to removing Trident from Scotland."
But opponents of the policy change have published a report claiming staying in Nato would endanger Scotland by making it more of a target for terrorism.
The Herald understands that backbench MSPs critical of the proposed policy change have sought assurances that Friday's conference session will involve a free vote.
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