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Libya, Albania Receive Deadline Extensions for Chemical Weapons Destruction By Chris Schneidmiller WASHINGTON — Albania and Libya were granted extensions of the intermediate deadlines for the destruction of their Category 1 chemical weapons this week during a meeting of Chemical Weapons Convention parties (see GSN, Dec. 2). The four-day summit ended yesterday in The Hague. Under guidelines for the 1993 treaty, all member states with declared chemical weapons stockpiles are required to have destroyed 1 percent of their munitions by 2000, 20 percent by 2002 and 45 percent by 2004. Nations can request extensions; the United States, Russia and another unidentified state party last year received extra time to destroy 45 percent of their weapons. Albania and Libya have only declared their chemical arsenals since late 2003, meaning they would miss all three deadlines, said Peter Kaiser, spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. “It was clear that an extension of the intermediate deadlines would be required,” he said. The two countries now have until March 2005 to submit detailed plans for chemical weapons destruction, including dates at which they expect to reach the milestones, Kaiser said. Both Albania and Libya have pledged to meet the final deadline for destruction of their Category 1 chemical weapons by April 29, 2007, according to an OPCW press release. Treaty states also approved during the conference a plan for verification of chemical weapons destruction at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Indiana. A fiscal 2005 program and budget of $101 million were also approved for the treaty secretariat. Half of the budgeted funds are allocated to the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention’s verification regime, according to the press release.
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