A/RES/51/53 Page 2 Bearing in mind resolution CM/Res.1660 (LXIV) on expediting the process of ratification of the Treaty of Pelindaba, adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity at its sixty-fourth ordinary session, held at Yaoundé from 1 to 5 July 1996,3 1. Calls upon African States to sign and ratify the African NuclearWeapon-Free Zone Treaty1 as soon as possible so that it may enter into force without delay; 2. Expresses its appreciation to the international community and in particular to the nuclear-weapon States which have signed the Protocols that concern them, and calls upon them to ratify the Protocols as soon as possible; 3. Calls upon the States contemplated in Protocol III to the Treaty to take all necessary measures to ensure the speedy application of the Treaty to territories for which they are, de jure or de facto, internationally responsible and which lie within the limits of the geographical zone established in the Treaty; 4. Calls upon the African States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons4 which have not yet concluded comprehensive safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency pursuant to the Treaty to do so, thereby satisfying the requirements of article 9 (b) and annex II to the Treaty of Pelindaba when it enters into force; 5. Expresses its profound gratitude to the Secretary-General for the diligence with which he has rendered effective assistance to the signatories to the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty in accordance with resolution 50/78; 6. Expresses its gratitude to the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the diligence with which they have rendered effective assistance to the signatories to the Treaty; 7. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to extend assistance, within existing resources, to the signatories in 1997 in order to achieve the aims of the present resolution; 8. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second session the item entitled "African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty". 79th plenary meeting 10 December 1996 3 A/51/524, annex I. 4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 729, No. 10485.