THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Nov. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Union (EU) on Monday demanded that signatories to an international treaty banning chemical weapons speed up chemical weapons destruction.

    Treaty members should step up efforts to meet the time limit set by the Chemical Weapons Convention -- calling for the destruction of the world's chemical weapons stock before 2007 -- Dutch Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Marc Vogelaar told the organization's annual conference here.

    The EU is concerned over the slow speed of destruction of declared chemical weapons, said the envoy of the Netherlands which holds the EU's rotating presidency.

    He added that the EU welcomes Libya's decision last year to give up its weapons of mass destruction.

    The OPCW is an independent international organization working with the United Nations to monitor the 1997 convention designed torid the world of chemical weapons and oversee the destruction of production facilities. Some 160 countries have signed the treaty. Enditem