GENEVA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Former United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix on Tuesday urged Switzerland to do more to encourage nuclear disarmament in the world, Swiss Radio International (SRI) reported.

    Speaking after meeting Swiss Defense Minister Samuel Schmid, Blix said small countries like Switzerland and Sweden could "bring a contribution" to current international disarmament efforts.

    The Swedish diplomat said Switzerland -- which will hold the rotating presidency of the UN's Conference on Disarmament in Geneva for four weeks this year -- had lots of technical expertise.

    He particularly commended the Spiez Laboratory in canton Bern, which contributes to the reduction of the threat of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

    For his part, Schmid said stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was a "central concern" for the future.

    He said Switzerland should take into account the fact that weapons of mass destruction could be used for terror purposes, even if the country was not considered a target.

    "The threat has not diminished," said Schmid, referring to the rise of "non-state actors" and terror groups.

    However, Blix pointed out that the events in Lebanon and Iraq had shown that not all conflicts could be solved through military means.

    He said U.S. willingness to start negotiations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea showed a change of heart by Washington and added that diplomacy was the best way when dealing with Iran's nuclear plans.

    Blix was called out of retirement to head the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission from January 2000 to June 2003. In 2002 the commission began searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction without results.