KYOTO -- The World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) on Thursday called on world leaders not to develop missile defense systems of the type being considered by the United States.

The plea was issued by a newly formed WCRP standing commission on disarmament and security currently meeting in Kyoto. The body also released plans to strengthen conflict prevention and peace initiatives.

Twenty-three representatives of religions and disarmament organizations from 14 countries are attending the two-day meeting.

The commission's members said in a statement that the use of nuclear weapons contradicts their shared moral and spiritual beliefs, and that they should be eliminated. As long as nuclear weapons exist, the potential exists for their use, they said.

They voiced concern that the development of missile defense systems would require renewed testing of nuclear weapons and intensify resistance to further reductions in existing nuclear arsenals.

Missile defense would also legitimize nuclear weapons as an important factor in international relations, and may lead non-nuclear states to develop their own nuclear capabilities, they said.

The commission reaffirmed the importance of the Antiballistic Missile Treaty, and called on political leaders to discard missile defense and search for new ways to ensure security.

It also called on world leaders to realize their commitment to eliminating nuclear weapons.

The commission urged the WCRP to convince permanent members of the U.N. Security Council of the contradiction between their dual role as guarantors of security and as the world's major arms suppliers.

The conference was also asked to call on states to reduce expenditure on their armed forces.

The forum is being chaired by Gijun Sugitani, secretary general of the WCRP's Japanese Committee and former president of the Tendai Buddhist sect. Other participants include Rodrigo Carazo Odio, the former president of Costa Rica.