MOSCOW, February 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia has expressed satisfaction with reports that Libya eliminated red shells, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
“We’re satisfied with reports by Libyan Foreign Minister Abdulaziz saying on February 4 that Libya had eliminated red shells under the auspices of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the member-states of the Convention for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (CPCW),” the diplomat said.
“Libya joined the CPCW in January 2004 and pledged to eliminate chemical weapons and its facilities. Libya did much work in this aspect and ended the elimination of dangerous agents at the end of January 2014,” he said.
“Libya took another step towards complying with the obligations in accordance with the Convention. Libya has to exert maximum effort to eliminate less toxic precursors of chemical weapons by December 2016,” Lukashevich said.
“The process of chemical demilitarization in Libya did not provoke sharp and emotional critique towards Damascus due to the slow rates of Syrian chemical weapons’ withdrawal. The Syrian authorities show full commitment to fulfilling the obligations and following this policy,” Lukashevich said.
“Libya’s example proves that it is important to provide any support to eliminating them [chemical weapons]. This is very important for Syria, which is involved in an armed conflict with the participation of Islamic terrorist groups,” he said.