U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Calls for Elimination of Chemical Weapons

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has called upon nations of the world to eliminate chemical weapons, as well as unexploded weapons (such as land mines and bombs which failed to explode during combat) which continue to pose a danger after wars have ended.

According to a press release issued by the United Nations on Monday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the impact on civilians caused by chemical and unexploded weapons, calling upon nations to follow international treaties prohibiting such weapons. He stated that one-hundred and eight-two countries have ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, but some countries have not joined them.

The Secretary-General praised the small east European country of Albania for disposing of all its chemical weapons during the month of July. He urged other nations to do the same. He also spoke of the continued danger presented by unexploded weapons in areas where hostilities have ended, saying that their threat should be "minimized", and their elimination should take place when possible. He referred to the implementation of Protocol V, which applies to ordnance of this type.

According to the Wikipedia.org entry on unexploded ordnance, countries with large numbers of unexploded weapons left from past wars include France, Laos, and Lebanon. It indicates that ten Laotian provinces are "severely contaminated" with unexploded bombs left over from the Vietnam War decades ago. These weapons include cluster bombs which did not explode when dropped and land mines which were deployed many years earlier. They continue to pose a threat to civilians in many countries around the world, and also cause harm to the environment. Such weapons are also referred to with the abbreviations "UXO", "UO", "UXB", and "MEC".

Wikipedia's entry on chemical weapons indicates that about seventeen countries have, or are suspected of having them. Such nations as Russia, the United States, India, Libya, and Syria are known to possess chemical weapons. Others, including China, Taiwan, Myanmar, Sudan, Pakistan, France, and Israel are suspected of having them. Some of the above-mentioned countries are in the process of eliminating arms of this type. Several nations have signed, but not ratified, the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The United Nations web site's biography on the Secretary-General indicates that he was born in June, 1944. Ban Ki-moon received a bachelor's degree in Seoul and a master's degree at Harvard University. He speaks English, Korean, and French. He became the Secretary-General in late 2006.

Sources:

1. United Nations, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24529
2. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordnance
3. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_warfare
4. UNSG, http://www.un.org/sg/biography.shtml