Abdullah Hamdan al-Naqbi, Ambassador of the UAE to the Netherlands and the Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), has emphasised the UAE's strong belief in the collective goals of the convention through which the whole world emphasised its determination on making effective progress on disarmament and eliminating and banning all weapons of mass destruction in order to ensure safe life for all humanity.
Ambassador Al Naqbi made his remarks as he chaired the UAE delegation to the 19th session of the Conference of the states members of the OPCW in the Dutch city of The Hague.
He further underscored the UAE's full support to the director-general and the secretariat-general of OPCW in their missions of destroying the chemical weapons of the Syrian Arab Republic. He also expressed the UAE's appreciation of their professionalism and speed of their work despite the hardships and circumstances surrounding the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons programme.
The UAE ambassador called upon Syria to continue its efforts to speed up the elimination of the remaining chemical weapons and destroying production facilities, as well as to continue its cooperation with OPCW in a transparent manner in order to solve the relating issues as precisely and comprehensively as proclaimed in the declarations in line with the CWC.
During the discussions on claims of poisonous chemical weapons use, and the on the available evidence that helicopters dropped barrel bombs containing chlorine in attacks on defenceless civilians in the Syrian towns of Talmenes, Tamanea' and Kafr Zita, the UAE strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons against defenceless civilians and called upon the OPCW secretariat-general to give this issue the highest attention.
The UAE also urged the OPCW's fact-finding mission to continue its work to expose and convict the perpetrators of these actions, to give this issue all due consideration and to set standards that would ensure the security and safety of the members of the mission.
During the session, the UAE presented its efforts in implementing the CWC, and noted that its National Committee for Commodities (Subject to Import Export and Re-export Controls) has formulated the relevant regulations for the relevant federal law on such commodities.
The UAE also hosted the 14th International Export Control Conference between 14-16 March.
The National Committee for Commodities also joined hands with the customs and the other relevant authorities for coordination and further strengthening the controls on the entry and exit of chemical materials that are under control. It also participated in a number of specialised workshops and training courses in order to improve the capabilities of its control staff.
It also conducted training programmes for the private sector to present updates on the national laws and legislations regarding the use of chemical materials and the procedures for obtaining import and export permits.
Source: WAM