The White House on Thursday commended Libya for destroying the chemical weapon stockpile left by deposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi and called on similar action from Syria.
The last of Libya’s chemical weapons were destroyed under international supervision.
“The United States congratulates Libya for destroying the last remnants of its [Gadhafi-era] chemical weapons stockpile and satisfying its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
She said the disposal represented “great progress” and an example of what the international community can achieve.
“There is more work to do,” Mrs. Sanders said. “The United States calls on Syria to eliminate all chemical weapons, to dismantle fully its chemical weapons program, and to ensure that these weapons can no longer be used against the Syrian people.”
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime has used chemical weapons against its people in the country’s brutal six-year civil war.
U.S. President Trump ordered missile strikes in April against a Syrian airfield from which chemical weapons attacks had been launched.
Mrs. Sanders said the U.S. gratefully recognized the key contributions of Denmark, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, Italy, Malta, France, and Spain, as well as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, in overseeing the disposal of the Libya’s chemical weapons.
They had ensured “the proper destruction of these dangerous chemicals and protecting the integrity of the Convention,” Mrs. Sanders said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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