Libya begins to destroy chemical weapons today

AMSTERDAM: Libya will start destroying 3,300 unfilled bombs on Friday as it clears up its chemical weapons, the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said on Thursday. OPCW inspectors will monitor the destruction, which is planned to last until March 5. The United States on Thursday lifted a travel ban on Libya and will allow some US firms to negotiate deals in the country as it welcomed Tripoli’s progress on getting rid of illicit weapons. The OPCW said the unfilled bombs had been intended for delivering chemical weapons. By March 5, the OPCW will receive the remainder of a list by Libya and will then organise the destruction of all remaining chemical weapons and related facilities in Libya. “This is a very positive step and a confirmation of Libya’s intention to actually get rid of prohibited weapons. In a wider sense, one must see today’s events as a confirmation of the validity and importance of multilateralism in the field of disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” OPCW Director-General of the Technical Secretariat, Rogelio Pfirter, said in a statement. —AFP

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