RIYADH, 20 May 2007 — Saudi Arabia has called on countries that possess chemical weapons to respect their commitments to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CMC) and expedite their efforts to eradicate their stockpiles.
“At a time when we have shown our respect to our commitment to the CWC, we expect all member countries to follow suit,” said Prince Turki ibn Muhammad, deputy minister of foreign affairs and head of the National Commission for Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC). He said that countries that possess chemical weapons should respect the deadlines given to them for destroying the stockpiles.
Prince Turki also called for more support for international initiatives “to rid the region of all weapons of mass destruction, be they chemical, biological or nuclear.”
“That includes all countries without exception,” he added.
All six countries that have declared to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that they possess chemical weapons have asked for their deadlines to be extended to 2012 to destroy their stockpiles, according to Sergei Kisselv, director of verification at the OPCW.
Speaking at the Third Informative Workshop on the Implementation Act of the Chemical Weapons Convention here yesterday, Kisselv said that the United States, one of the six member states, had asked its deadline to be extended to April 2012.
The official mentioned that since the US became a signatory, it had managed to destroy only 41 percent of its total chemical weapons. Countries of the former USSR have also extended their deadline to 2012. They have only destroyed 20 percent of their stockpile.
The official, however, said the Kingdom had come a long way in implementing its CMC’s obligations. He described Saudi Arabia as “the true frontrunner in the Gulf area” in terms of its commitment to the convention.
“It is testimony that Saudi Arabia is extremely serious in its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention,” he said. “You have put all the necessary requirements in place. You are now working on increasing those requirements to ensure that all segments in your society are fully compliant with your obligations under this convention.”
The official vowed his organization’s support to the Kingdom’s programs.
According to Kisselv, 182 countries are CWC signatories. He mentioned that four Middle Eastern countries — Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon — were not signatories. Israel, he said, has signed the deal but has yet to implement the program.
“There are signs of Iraq and Lebanon coming in soon,” he said, adding that the political situation was difficult in both countries.
Other Asian non-signatory countries include North Korea and Myanmar. African countries that have not signed the convention include Congo, Angola and Somalia.
The official said that the OPCW aimed at making the CWC universal by having all countries as signatories. It also seeks to eradicate chemical weapons in member states by urging them to implement strict national strategies.
The international body, which is based in The Hague, commemorates this year the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the CWC. Over the past 10 years, the OPCW managed to conduct 900 inspections in 70 member states.
The Kingdom was one of the first countries to sign the CWC, realizing the danger chemical weapons pose. Saudi Arabia signed the CWC on Jan. 20, 1993. The agreement was implemented on Aug. 9, 1996, a year before the CWC officially came into effect.
The Riyadh workshop is the third of its kind held by the NACWC after a training workshop was conducted last year for Saudi personnel and an earlier workshop was conducted at the GCC level.
This year’s workshop is sponsored by SABIC, the largest industrial company in the Middle East.
