Addressing the meeting of states parties to the Biological Weapons Convention here today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) confirmed support for the statements of the organizing groups. In a speech delivered by the Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the United Nations office, in Geneva, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, it reaffirmed full support for the organization and management of the meeting, in addition to providing preparatory documents and participation in the work of the United Nations Conference on the Establishment of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, in the Middle East, held from 18 to 22 November. The Kingdom welcomed the outcome of the conference, which adopted an agreed agenda, a comprehensive and balanced program of work that would allow the participation of the invited parties, at any of its stages, as well as a road map for the preparation and establishment of subsequent sessions, as these efforts will undoubtedly enhance the multilateral disarmament regime, including the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons and the establishment, in the Middle East, of a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, he stated. Al-Wasel pointed out that the Kingdom's commitment to these agreements and their implementation, at the national and international levels, is an extension of its consistent policy aimed at enhancing cooperation to ban all types of weapons of mass destruction, prevent their proliferation, and contribute to efforts to make the Middle East, a zone free of all such weapons, adding that as a legitimate right of the peoples of the region, the international community has a main pillar to promote regional and international security and peace. He indicated that the Kingdom is one of the first countries to accede to the international treaties related to banning and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, conventions on legalizing hazardous materials and ways to deal with them, and enhancing cooperation and coordination to protect civilians from their dangers. recalling that the Kingdom signed the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), in 1972.
