VIENNA, 15 January 2004 — Libya has joined some 100 countries which have ratified the nuclear test ban treaty as it continues to make overtures to the international community only weeks after abandoning efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction, a treaty official said yesterday.
“Libya ratified the treaty on Jan. 6 by handing in the instrument of ratification to the UN secretary general in New York,” said Wolfgang Hoffmann, executive secretary of the Vienna-based preparatory commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty organization (CTBTO). The treaty has been signed by 170 states but now with Libya, has been ratified by 109.
The treaty commits countries that have ratified to refrain from any kind of nuclear weapons testing. But the treaty appears likely to collapse as all the countries with nuclear capabilities must ratify it in order for it to come into force. The United States has indicated that it has no plans to ratify it.
