BRUSSELS, Dec 1 (KUNA) -- The charge d'affaires of the Embassy of Kuwait in the Hague, Counselor Ali Al-Zaydi, is heading the Kuwaiti delegation at the 19th Session of the Conference of the States Parties of the Organisaton For the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which began in the Dutch city of the Hague on Monday.
Speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), by phone, Al-Zaydi said Croatia has been selected to preside over the conference and 10 vice presidents to the conference have also been selected.
He said that OPCW Director General Ahmet Uzumcu and other speakers addressed the opening session underlining the importance of implementation of the convention on the elimination of the chemical weapons.
Uzumcu praised the international support to the convention and to eliminate the chemical weapons of Syria. But he also expressed concern over the use of chemical gas in Syria.
The five-day conference will discuss the annual report of the OPCW, and enhance international cooperation to harness the chemical activities for peaceful purposes, and to achieve a global agreement as well as the organization's budget for 2015.
Al-Zaydi repeated to KUNA Kuwait's support for all activities of the organization, and the importance of implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, on the basis of full faith in the disarmament of all weapons of mass destruction.
He also underlined that the State of Kuwait is committed to the Convention and is working on the implementation at the national and international levels, particularly with regard to supporting all efforts to make the Middle East free of these deadly weapons.
He added that the Kuwaiti delegation includes a number of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense and the National Committee to monitor and secure communications with the OPCW.
The OPCW is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force in 1997. As of today OPCW has 190 Member States, which are working together to achieve a world free of chemical weapons. (end) nk.mt