ON LIBYA'S ACCESSION TO CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) took effect for the Libyan Jamahiriya on February 5. Moscow has received news of this event with satisfaction and regards it as a weighty confirmation of Tripoli's recent statements of its renunciation of developing and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including chemical weapons.

Libya's accession to the CWC is an important practical step on the road of prohibiting chemical weapons internationally and strengthening the WMD nonproliferation regime in the Middle East and on the African continent. Russia expects Tripoli's participation in the Convention to serve as a positive example for all the countries who have not yet become its members.

February 5, 2004