Iraq, Britian conclude agreement over chemical weapons disposal

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq and Great Britain concluded an agreement according to which British scientists from the (DSTL) laboratories within the British Ministry of Defense are going to help the Iraqi government dispose of remnants of the chemical weapons program which was mostly destroyed during the period 1992-1994. A statement by the British Embassy cited Monday “Under an agreement signed in Baghdad today, experts from the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) will train Iraqi personnel to safely dispose of the remnants of munitions and chemical warfare agents, the rest of which was destroyed during the military operations in 1991 or by UNSCOM.” The statement added “The materials are contained in two sealed bunkers at the old Muthanna Chemicals Weapons Complex, which was the principal production facility for both chemical agents and munitions during Saddam Hussein’s rule.” Thousands of tons of chemical weapons were produced, stored and deployed by the Ba’athist regime. Following the First Gulf War, most of these weapons were destroyed and the contents of two bunkers are all that is left. The Chemical Weapons Convention, which Iraq joined in 2009, requires that although the material is unusable and does not pose a significant security risk, it has to be disposed off. The condition of one of the bunkers, which was damaged during the 1991 Gulf War, and the nature of the material contained in both bunkers will make the destruction process difficult and technically challenging. The statement mentioned “The UK has therefore agreed to provide training to Iraqi personnel at DSTL’s site in Porton Down – a world-leading centre of excellence for chemical defense. The training will take place later this year and will consist of teaching technical personnel in the safe handling and analysis of toxic chemicals. The team at DSTL will also offer training to Iraqi medical personnel on how to deal with the health risks associated with chemical weapons.” The British Ambassador to Iraq, Simon Collis, said “The United Kingdom attaches a high priority to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the production and use of chemical weapons, and is now in force in 188 countries world-wide. We want it to be fully and universally implemented, and encourage the few remaining states who have not joined the Convention to do so, especially here in the Middle Eastern region. We were glad to support Iraq when it joined the Convention in 2009. One of the key obligations of member states is to destroy any chemical weapons it possesses, so the UK is delighted to be able to help Iraq by providing training for Iraqi personnel involved in this difficult and dangerous task.” The head of the Iraqi National Authority Mohammed Al Sharaa said “Iraq’s constitution emphasizes its obligations under non proliferation treaties and agreements.