THE 143 countries that have banned chemical weapons are meeting in The Hague
this week amid a worsening financial crisis that threatens the future of the
Chemical Weapons Convention. With a budget deficit of nearly 10 per cent looming
this year, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has had to
make deep cuts in the number of chemicals plants it inspects each year for
clandestine weapons production.
Some treaty states, including Russia and the US, have fallen behind on
payments. But another problem is that member states pay the OPCW to oversee the
destruction of their chemical weapons.…
