House to deliberate chemical weapons ban

JAKARTA (JP): A bill on the ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction was submitted yesterday to the House of Representatives for deliberation.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said that when passed, Indonesia would become the 111th party to the convention and the fifth in Southeast Asia after Brunei, Laos, the Philippines and Singapore.

Presenting the bill to a House plenary session, Alatas said it was in the interest of Indonesia to ratify the document.

"Indonesia is not a country which owns chemical weapons and does not have the intention to develop any. Indonesia's decision to become party to the convention is founded by its Constitution obliging it to take part in maintaining international peace and security," Alatas said.

Indonesia would also gain other "practical and tactical benefits" from ratifying the convention, he said.

Indonesia, which signed the convention in 1997 in Paris, is one of 59 countries that have still to ratify it, Alatas said. (aan)