The Hague, 14 March 2002

The Minister of Legal Affairs, H.E. Mr Abdallah Ghanem, of the Republic of Yemen has visited the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Monday, 11 March, 2002.

The Minister, accompanied by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Yemen to the OPCW , H.E. Mrs Amat Al-Aleem Ali Alsoswa, met OPCW Director-General, Mr José M. Bustani and received a briefing on the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention at the OPCW Operations Centre.

In their meeting, the Director-General and the Minister discussed the contribution made by the OPCW to international security, in particular the Organisation's role in verifying the destruction of chemical weapon stockpiles and ensuring the non-proliferation of chemical weapons.

The Director-General emphasised the importance of the expeditious enactment of national implementing legislation by all Member States. Such legislation makes any activity prohibited by the Convention a criminal offence and also serves to establish a network of legislation among States Parties to deny terrorists any "safe haven".

The Director-General thanked Yemen for its continuous support of the Organisation in the fulfilment of its mission to eliminate chemical weapons. The Republic of Yemen signed the Chemical Weapons Convention on 8 February 1993 and deposited its instruments of ratification of the Convention on 2 October 2000. The Convention entered into force for Yemen on 1 November 2000.