The Hague — Libya’s last chemical weapons stocks have arrived safely in Germany after being shipped out of the country, and will now be prepared for destruction, a global watchdog said.
“Another crucial step has been taken toward eliminating Libya’s remaining chemical weapon precursors,” Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the UN-backed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement.
The stocks, including 23 tanks of chemicals, were shipped out on a Danish vessel on August 30 from the Libyan port of Misrata, under the supervision of the United Nations.
It was a multi-nation maritime operation led by Denmark, and Uzumcu said the remaining “chemicals arrived safely and securely at the specialized destruction facility in Munster”.
The destruction of around 500 tons of toxic chemical products by GEKA, Germany’s state-owned company for disposing of chemical weapons, will be the last phase of the operation to rid the unstable north African country of its stockpile. The stocks had been stored in the central Jafa area, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Sirte where Libyan pro-government forces are battling militants from the Daesh group.
The removal of the dangerous weapons precursors eases fears that extremists like Daesh could gain access to the weapons in Libya, which has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
“These chemical weapon precursors have not been weaponized and now they never will be by anyone,” the OPCW said in a statement Thursday.
The UN Security Council on July 22 endorsed the plans to remove Libya’s remaining chemical weapons from the country.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a statement praised the operation and welcomed the contribution of “personnel, technical expertise, equipment, financial and other resources” by the countries involved. — AFP
