"They have an opportunity to repair and rebuild important relationships that were strained in the run-up to the war in Iraq," an international coalition of 20 security organisations from around the world said in a statement.

They warned that without a strong joint commitment from the international community, it would be increasingly difficult to curb the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

"No single country can do this alone. And time is not on our side," the statement said.

The world's most industrialised nations pledged during last year's G8 summit to raise 20 billion dollars (euros) over 10 years to "prevent the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction".

Almost 19 billion dollars have been raised so far, said Francois Heisbourg, director of France's Foundation for Strategic Research, adding that the financial pledges must be turned into hard cash.

Alexei Arbatov, deputy president of Russia's parliamentary defence commission, warned that the US-led war in Iraq had prompted a fresh wave of anti-American sentiment, compromising efforts to cut back weapons stockpiles.

"At the Shchuchye facility in Russia, nearly two million rounds of nerve agents, enough to kill millions and millions of people, sit in decaying, poorly secured buildings," the coalition statement said.

"This is just a small fraction of the chemical weapons awaiting destruction around the world."

Former US senator Sam Nunn, now co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Intiative, also warned that the United States' intention to research low-yield nuclear weapons gave the wrong signal to the international community.

The world is on a course between catastrophe and cooperation, Nunn threatened.

WAR.WIRE