Tripoli, April 26:
Canada has made a voluntary contribution to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of 6 million . . .[restrict]Canadian dollars (€ 4.53 million).
According to the OPCW, the amount donated was in support of the Libyan Government’s efforts in resuming and completing the destruction of its remaining stockpile of chemical weapons.
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird first announced the offer of assistance in Tripoli last October, when he visited the city shortly before the end of the eight-month conflict which resulted in the fall of the Qadhafi regime. The donation is the largest the OPCW has ever received from a State Party since it was established in 1997.
“This historic donation reflects the spirit of solidarity and mutual aid that has exemplified the OPCW from its beginning, and which is vital to achieve our goal of ridding the world of all chemical weapons,” said the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü. “I commend the Government of Canada for its generous support, and we look forward to working closely with Libya to eliminate the last of its chemical weapons as soon as possible.”
The Libyan authorities, in turn, highly appreciate the support provided by the Government of Canada to Libya in order to achieve its comprehensive programme for the disposal of chemical weapons.
OPCW will use the funds for three main activities: 1) Project management and training of personnel to operate the destruction facility, 2) purchase of equipment and related materials for destroying sulfur mustard agent and chemical weapons munitions stored at the Ruwagha depot, and 3) provision of support services for OPCW on-site inspectors at Ruwagha.
The OPCW will continuously maintain rotating teams of 5-6 inspectors at Ruwagha throughout the destruction process, which OPCW officials expect should be completed for Libya’s Category 1 chemical weapons within 6 months after operations resume.
Libya is one of three States Parties, together with the Russian Federation and the United States, that are unable to meet the 29 April 2012 final extended deadline set by the Chemical Weapons Convention for completing the destruction of their declared chemical arsenals. By decision of the Conference of States Parties in December, the three countries must submit detailed destruction plans to the OPCW, with completion dates, by no later than the final extended deadline, and are subject to enhanced reporting and verification measures. [/restrict]
