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Securing Libya’s chemical weapons
“The arsenals in Libya still present a major risk far beyond the borders of the country,” Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on 19 January. Everything must be done, he continued, to minimize their potential to do harm. The German Government is thus supporting the second chemical weapons inspection in the country following the fall of Gaddafi.
OPCW inspection in Libya (archive)
© OPCW
OPCW inspection in Libya (archive)
OPCW inspection in Libya (archive)
© OPCW
The plundering of weapons and ammunition from the Gaddafi regime’s arsenals which occurred during the civil war could have seriously destabilizing consequences, both for Libya and its neighbours. Securing and destroying such weapons is thus a key concern of the transitional government and the international community.
One thing Libya needs if it is to achieve this aim is international expertise. “We are therefore maintaining our support for the new Libya when it comes to inspecting and securing its chemical weapons,” Foreign Minister Westerwelle emphasized. To this end, the German Government supports the work of the OPCW.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was established in order to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force in 1997. This Convention is significant in that it was the first international agreement to outlaw a whole category of weapons of mass destruction and ensure their destruction under international supervision. The OPCW’s main task at present is to engage in systematic verification to check that declared chemical weapons and production capacities are destroyed within the agreed deadlines.
The inspectors arrive
© OPCW
The inspectors arrive
The inspectors arrive
© OPCW
The international team of inspectors, who were in Libya from 17 to 19 January, was made up of eight OPCW specialists, including one German national. At the request of the OPCW, the German air force flew the inspectors to Libya – as it did for the first inspection in November 2011. The flight was financed from the Federal Foreign Office budget.
The three-day inspection in Ruwagha, roughly 700 km from Tripoli, was intended to enable the OPCW to evaluate for itself the stocks of chemical weapons which had not been declared by Libya when Gaddafi was in power and which were discovered at two sites during the conflict. The Libyan transitional government formally declared this find to the OPCW at the end of November. A first inspection of chemical weapons depots in Libya took place in November 2011.
Libya has been a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 2004. Of the chemical weapons declared by Libya to the OPCW, some 9.5 tonnes of mustard gas and over 800 tonnes of liquid precursors have not yet been destroyed. The Libyan transitional government has assumed control of the declared chemical weapons. It intends to fulfil the obligations Libya assumed under the CWC to destroy all its chemical weapons and to implement the Convention.
It is not just chemical weapons that pose a serious threat to the Libyan population, but also conventional weapons, munitions and landmines. The Federal Foreign Office thus also supports the establishment of a Libyan mine action centre to secure weapons, munitions, landmines and remnants of war.
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Last updated 19.01.2012