Algerian Foreign Minister Congratulates the OPCW on its Tenth Anniversary

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Entry into Force of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the founding of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, H.E. Mr Mohamed Bedjaoui, sent a message of congratulations to the OPCW and its Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter.

“As we commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of the entry into force of the CWC, allow me, on behalf of the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, to associate my country with this celebration and to offer you our sincerest congratulations on this occasion, which is for the international community a milestone along the road to the destruction of one category of weapons of mass destruction.

I take this opportunity to praise the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW, which you administer, for the meritorious efforts made over these last years to achieve the noblest of missions, namely the destruction of large stockpiles of chemical weapons, within the framework of an international action aimed eventually at general, universal disarmament. My country can only rejoice to see the results achieved during the last decade, in particular the consolidation of the process of universality of the CWC, which is something to which we attach the greatest importance. My country is pleased with the multilateral character of the work done by the States Parties and the Secretariat; in this, our Organisation is setting a unique example.

Thus, while, the priority for the CWC remains the destruction by the possessor States of their stockpiles of chemical weapons, my country considers that the world in which we are living is, more than ever, confronted with the spectre of terrorism, a challenge against which the international community as a whole is mobilised, and against which it must remain vigilant in order to avoid disasters and to save the lives of innocent civilians.

This Tenth Anniversary has a very special significance for my country, bearing in mind that, when the first historical use of chemical weapons took place on 22 April 1915, in Ypres, Belgium, the first victims among the allied ranks were Algerians.

As a consequence, I should like to repeat the full and complete commitment of Algeria to the respect for all the objectives assigned to the CWC, in particular those aimed at ridding the international community of one part of the arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. My country will spare no effort within the framework of the mobilisation of the international community against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, just as it has the greatest interest in seeing our planet free from these weapons, especially the Middle East and Africa.”

PR55 / 2007