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U.S. Backs Libyan Bid to Modify Chemical Treaty to Permit Conversion of Weapons Facilities
The United States supports a Libyan proposal to modify the Chemical Weapons Convention to allow countries to convert former chemical weapons facilities to peaceful purposes, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 12). The United States issued its support for Libya’s proposal yesterday during a meeting in The Hague of the executive council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which oversees the treaty, according to AP. Libya, with the support of 17 other treaty members, wants to convert its former Rabta mustard gas facility into a pharmaceutical plant, AP reported. Under the treaty’s current rules, however, former chemical weapons sites must either remain closed or be destroyed. Libya hopes to use the plant to manufacture low-cost drugs for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, according to AFP. “This is not a matter we can defer,” said Eric Javits, head of the U.S. delegation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. “The proposal will work not just for Libya, but for any future acceding state that may possess a chemical weapons production facility and legitimately wish to convert it for purposes not prohibited by the convention” (Agence France-Presse/Khaleej Times, Oct. 12). Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac said yesterday that he planned to visit Libya later this year, according to Agence France-Presse. Chirac’s visit would be the first by a French president to Libya in more than 20 years (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Oct. 12).
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