New York -information office  - October 23

The State of Qatar has underlined that the acquisition and development of weapons of mass destruction is a flagrant violation of collective legal and ethical obligations to strengthen security and peace, which is a commitment made by Member States to eliminate weapons of mass destruction and achieve a secure and prosperous world. This is based on its belief in a world of security, peace and stability and free from the threat of the use of weapons of mass destruction.

This came in the speech of the State of Qatar before the First Committee of the United Nations on the item "Other weapons of mass destruction" delivered by Talal bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Second Secretary, and member of the delegation of the State of Qatar to the 73rd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

At the beginning of his speech, Al Khalifa, expressed his delegation's thanks and appreciation to the efforts of the Committee and to the members of the delegations participating in the work of the Committee. The Delegation of Qatar also expressed its support for the statement of the Arab Group, and Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.

In its statement, the State of Qatar noted that the international community was actively seeking to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction, which were of concern to all and placed the entire population of the planet in danger of using such weapons, particularly in light of the proliferation of armed conflicts and the possible possession and use of weapons of mass destruction by non-State armed groups Comprehensive.

The State of Qatar expressed concern about the danger of terrorist organizations acquiring weapons of mass destruction and the serious consequences for international peace and security. In that regard, he reiterated the importance of intensifying joint efforts to prevent such extremist terrorist organizations from acquiring such weapons , in accordance with Security Council resolution 1540 (2004), which recognized that nuclear, chemical and biological weapons posed a threat to international peace and security and called on Member States to refrain from supporting non-State actors to acquire, manufacture, acquire, transfer or use nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

In line with its policy on the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and the fight against terrorism, the State of Qatar has continued to work with its partners in the international community and to implement its international legal obligations related to the non-proliferation of chemical and biological weapons, as well as nuclear weapons, in line with the fact that the State of Qatar is a party to the relevant international conventions.

The State of Qatar stressed that the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) had contributed to the fact that the use and possession of chemical weapons constituted a flagrant violation of international law and of legal and humanitarian standards, thus creating the binding international legal basis to consider the conduct of any party using such weapons as condemned and rejected by the international community as a whole, requiring criminal accountability and impunity for those responsible.

It said that "any use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world under any circumstances is a serious threat to the non-proliferation regime that the international community has established for decades, where various UN official reports have been confirmed in a state of impunity.

In its statement, the State of Qatar noted that the use of toxic substances as war weapons was a war crime and crimes against humanity. The international community's rejection of these heinous crimes was manifested in the establishment by the General Assembly of a neutral and independent international mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes committed in Syria since March 2011.

The State of Qatar issued Law No. 16 of 2013 on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Law No. 4 of 2016 on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons, and within the context of raising awareness of the dangers of chemical weapons and how to deal with them, The Doha Regional Center for Training in Weapons of Mass Destruction has trained specialists from 39 member States of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The Center also held 27 training programs in cooperation with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on assistance and protection, for the security of the chemical. The State of Qatar has been a member of the IAEA Board of Governors since 2013 and for two consecutive sessions.

With regard to nuclear weapons, the State of Qatar stressed the importance of continuing efforts to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons and to implement the commitments resulting from the 1995 Review Conference of the NPT and the steps taken at the 2000 Review Conference and the 2010 Plan of Action.

In view of the importance of this topic to the security and stability of the region and the world, the Arab Group had submitted a draft decision on the convening of a conference on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.

Concluding, the State of Qatar stressed that the joint responsibility of Member States must work towards the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, to ensure that no further development of such weapons is undertaken and to deal firmly with any threat to use them from any party whatsoever, and its impact on the welfare and development of peoples.