Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, North Korea: unwilling to ban chemical weapons

The Malaysia Sun reports that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has identified North Korea and the Middle Eastern nations of Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria as a "hard core" of countries currently resisting moves towards banning their chemical weapons.

Countries become members of the OPCW automatically when they accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was launched in April 1997. The Chemical Weapons Convention was developed during a period of extensive negotiations spanning several years at the UN Conference on Disarmament. The OPCW is currently comprised of 180 member States. Rogelio Pfirter, Director-General of the OPCW says that failure to secure the participation of every country in the international community will result in a "major loophole" which could potentially lead to the proliferation of "deadly weapons at the expense of humanity."

The OPCW has reportedly conducted more than 1,100 inspections in 80 countries, and has identified and catalogued at least 5,000 facilities worldwide as being "of relevance" to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Pfirter also stated:
"We [the OPCW] cover 92 per cent of the surface of the Earth and about 96 per cent of chemical industry. This is all very positive. Yet we face significant challenges ahead. There remains a hard core of some countries which we don't see any real evidence of them moving towards accession."

-Travis

Link to the story below.

Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, North Korea, refuse to ban chemical weapons (Malaysia Sun)

See related:
Israel admits phosphorous bombs used in Lebanon (The Independent)