The Hague, 22 December 2003

Libya to Adhere to the Chemical Weapons Convention

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) welcomes the announcement made by the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair and the US President, Mr George Bush, that the Government of Libya has decided to renounce all programmes aimed at producing weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons.

The OPCW also welcomes the statement made by H.E. Mr Mohamed Abderrhmane Chalgam, the Libyan Foreign Minster, that Libya intends to adhere to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) without delay.

The OPCW Technical Secretariat anticipates close cooperation with the Libyan authorities in preparing for Libya’s accession to the Convention, as well as in the subsequent international inspections and monitoring of the relevant installations and facilities.

Libya’s adherence to the Convention will significantly enhance the international community’s efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It will also extend further the reach of the global ban on chemical weapons in the Middle East, a region where the international prohibition of chemical weapons is not yet fully in force.

The OPCW commends the United Kingdom and the United States for their efforts in working closely with the Libyan government to make this positive outcome possible.

Libya’s imminent accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention brings us closer to our shared goal of a world free of these heinous means of terror, death and destruction.

The OPCW calls upon those States that have not joined the vast majority of States in renouncing chemical weapons to do so without further delay.